Switzerland Freezes Russian Assets Worth IDR 230 Trillion, Moscow Inflamed

JAKARTA – Switzerland froze USD 14.3 billion or equivalent to IDR 230 trillion in assets Russia with details that half is state property and the other half is private property. While the value of Russian state assets remained unchanged, Swiss authorities reported a sharp decline in the value of privately owned funds.

At the end of December, a total of $6.3 billion in funds and property belonging to sanctioned Russian individuals or entities were frozen in Switzerland. The figure represents a decrease of USD 1.9 billion from that registered at the end of 2022, according to the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO).

“This decrease was caused by a decrease in the value of certain blocked assets, especially securities linked to Russia, as a result of international sanctions,” SECO said in a statement quoted from Russia Today, Wednesday (24/4/2024).

This amount is separate from the $7.9 billion in assets belonging to the Russian Central Bank, which have also been blocked in Switzerland. Swiss authorities said last year they had frozen an additional $636 million in financial assets and two properties, following their own investigation and detailed clarification by the bank.

The current estimate includes 17 properties, luxury cars, works of art, furniture and musical instruments belonging to sanctioned Russians. The agency also revealed that $153.5 million in frozen funds had been released after further investigation found that the legal requirements for their freezing were not met.

The agency also revealed $153.5 million in frozen funds had been released after further investigation found that legal requirements for the freeze were not met. Although not a member of the European Union and considering itself a neutral country, Switzerland has supported Ukraine-related Western sanctions against Russia.

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The Swiss government has said on more than one occasion that it has been closely following European Union discussions regarding the prospect of confiscating frozen Russian assets to help Ukraine, but has not outlined plans to do so.

Moscow has fiercely opposed the legitimacy of such asset freezes, denouncing the practice as theft and warning of retaliation if the West moves to confiscate the funds.

(nng)