In particular, banks are afraid to violate property rights, so as not to harm Switzerland as a financial center.
The head of the MFA of Switzerland, Ignazio Cassis, supports the idea of his country confiscating frozen Russian assets, in order to then direct them to the restoration of Ukraine. However, the Swiss banks themselves oppose such steps, writes Bloomberg.
“If we seriously want to help rebuild Ukraine, we need to think about how we will finance it,” Cassis told the Swiss newspaper Tages-Anzeiger.
He added that the authorities of some countries are discussing the transfer of frozen Russian assets to Ukraine, “but this should be done correctly within the framework of the rule of law.”
So far, 7.5 billion francs ($8.2 billion) in assets that Switzerland has frozen from sanctioned Russians cannot yet be seized, Cassis said. Most likely, a referendum will be required to change the relevant law. The frozen assets of the Russians are part of the 150 billion francs ($150.1 billion) of total Russian funds kept in Switzerland.
At the international level, there appears to be “a lot of shared political will,” Cassis said, but added that such action was difficult.
“We can't just take money that doesn't belong to us just because we think it's morally right… Ownership is fundamental,” Cassis said.
At the same time, according to Bloomberg, Swiss banks were very critical of the proposal to return frozen Russian assets to Ukraine. In particular, an unnamed banker told the NZZ newspaper that neglecting property rights in this way would undermine Switzerland's position as a financial center. Another called it a “death sentence” for Swiss banks.
The Swiss government's decision to accept European Union sanctions following Russia's invasion of Ukraine has already been heavily criticized for sacrificing historic neutrality.
Read also: Swiss franc loses ground amid improving euro outlook
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It was reported that the US and other countries began to pressure Switzerland to gain access to Russian assets to rebuild Ukraine after the war.
