The Swiss Federal Office of Justice stated that the transfer of the frozen assets of Russians to Ukraine is not allowed by current legislation. This is stated in a statement published on the website of the Swiss government.
The working group that studied this issue concluded that the confiscation of private assets is unconstitutional and will undermine the existing legal order. “The expropriation of private assets of legal origin without compensation is not permitted by Swiss law,” the document says.
At the same time, Switzerland recognizes that Russia violated international law by attacking Ukraine, and must pay reparations for the damage caused to it. The statement emphasizes that the Swiss government will continue to support Ukraine.
According to Sonntags Zeitung, Credit Suisse has frozen Russian assets worth 17.6 billion Swiss francs (€17.8 billion). Officially, the Swiss authorities announced an asset freeze for 7.6 billion francs.
In early February, US Attorney General Merrick Garland announced that the US authorities would transfer to Kyiv $5.4 million confiscated from Konstantin Malofeev, a Russian businessman and founder of the Tsargrad TV channel. Garland noted that this is "the first ever transfer of confiscated Russian assets for use in Ukraine."
