GENEVA, April 17. /TASS/. Switzerland will not join the task force created to deal with Russia’s frozen assets, dubbed REPO (Russian Elites, Proxies and Oligarchs), with the National Council (the larger of the two houses of the country’s parliament) voting down the respective initiative from the Green Party, the parliament’s press service reported.
"The National Council dismissed the proposal by the Green Party by a vote of 101-80 on Wednesday," the report said.
REPO is a multisided body set up by the West in March 2022, which is involved in locating and confiscating any property related to Russia in line with sanctions. The group contains US finance and justice ministers, representatives of Australia, the UK, Germany, Italy, Canada, France, Japan, as well as the European Commission.
The country’s government, the Federal Council, was also against Switzerland’s participation in REPO, the press service of the parliament said. The government announced its position in 2023. The Federal Department of Justice and Police presented a report in February 2023, which said that confiscating legally-gotten Russian assets and transferring them to Ukraine, which is one of the goals of the REPO group, would contradict the Swiss constitution.
According to data provided by the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) responsible for sanctions measures, as of November 25, 2022, financial assets worth 7.5 bln Swiss francs (around $8.25 bln) and 15 properties were frozen in the country. The Bank of Russia;s total reserves in Switzerland stand at 7.4 bln Swiss francs (around $8.14 bln). The amount of immobilized assets differs from the amount of frozen funds and assets in Switzerland (7.5 bln Swiss francs), with the latter owned by individuals, companies or entities under sanctions, or are controlled by them and are subjected to freezing, the department said.
Switzerland, which is not a part of NATO or the European Union, supports sanctions against Russia that were imposed due to its special military operation in Ukraine. The Russian government approved in March 2022 a list of foreign countries and territories, which take unfriendly actions regarding Russia, its companies and citizens. The Swiss Confederation is on the list.