Switzerland freezes billions worth of Russian assets

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Switzerland revealed on Thursday that as part of the anti-Russia sanctions, it had effectively frozen 7.5 billion Swiss francs ($7.9 billion) in Russian assets until this time.

The sum has been shifting for months but is nearly over one billion francs greater than what the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) declared in July.

Switzerland has also confiscated 15 Russian homes, according to the most recent statement.

According to Erwin Bollinger, Head Export Controls and Sanctions at the SECO, the amount frozen at any given time does not necessarily "reflect the efficacy of the sanctions." 

This is due to the fact that Swiss officials attempting to enact a series of sanctions on Russia may freeze assets as a preventative measure; these assets may then be unfrozen once clarifications have been made.

Switzerland opposes transfer of frozen Russian funds to Ukraine

It is worth reminding that in October, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky's proposed to transfer frozen Russian assets to Ukraine. In response, a spokesperson for the Swiss Federal Department of Economic Affairs, Education and Research, Fabian Maienfisch, told reporters that Switzerland disapproved.

"For the Swiss government, the confiscation of assets only on the basis of belonging to a state or being included in the sanctions list and using them to rebuild Ukraine is currently not an option of showing support for Ukraine," the spokesperson told RIA Novosti.

Zelensky's proposal to block Russian assets in Swiss banks and transfer them to Ukraine was delivered last week.

On June 30, Russian Security Council Deputy Secretary Alexander Venediktov deemed the freeze of Russian assets to be one of the "greatest thefts in history."

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