Russian assets frozen in Switzerland amounted to 6.7 billion Swiss francs (converted to euros), the Swiss Economy Ministry said in a tweet on Friday, specifying that an additional fifteen properties were frozen.
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At the end of March, Ambassador Erwin Bollinger, a senior official at the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (Seco), gave an initial estimate of the funds blocked since the invasion of Ukraine, then put it at 5.75 billion Swiss francs and a fortnight later raised it to 7.5 billion francs.
In the meantime, the amount of the assets blocked by the Swiss authorities has been corrected downwards after clarifications on the assets concerned, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said. In mid-May, this figure was revised to CHF 6.3 billion.
As of July 7, the value of the blocked assets has risen to CHF 6.7 billion, the ministry specifies in a point on the sanctions on its side.
Known for its neutrality, Switzerland broke with its traditional restraint in the days after the start of the war in Ukraine by joining the European Union in sanctions against Russia.
In particular, it obliged the Swiss banks to identify the persons, companies or corporations affected by the sanctions from their customers and to report them to the Ministry of Economic Affairs.
Among the sanctions imposed, Switzerland also banned the export of luxury goods and goods that help boost Russia’s industrial capacities.
The application of the sanctions by Switzerland was nevertheless criticized. The Socialist Party of Switzerland, the second political formation in Parliament, filed an administrative complaint in April to protest what it saw as too “passive” application of these sanctions.
The parliamentary group then called for the frozen assets to be used to help rebuild Ukraine.
The most critical voices focused on an estimate by the Swiss Bankers Association (SBA) of Russian assets managed in Switzerland, which judged the blocked amounts to be insufficient.
In mid-March, the SBA, the association that represents around 300 banking institutions in the country, estimated the Russian assets managed in Switzerland at around 150 to 200 billion francs.