The confiscation of assets of Russian oligarchs and the use of money for the reconstruction of Ukraine are unconstitutional in Switzerland, the Bern government announced, referring to the conclusions of a working group created by the Federal Department of Justice, Reuters and AFP reported. Switzerland has frozen financial assets worth 7.5 billion Swiss francs ($8.13 billion) as part of sanctions against Russians over Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.

After international debate and calls for the money to be used to finance reconstruction in Ukraine, Bern considered what he could do with the frozen assets and created a working group to discuss the matter.

“There are no legal grounds for confiscation”

This working group, created by the Federal Office of Justice (Ministry of Justice), concluded that the expropriation of private assets of legal origin without compensation is not permitted by Swiss law and that the confiscation of frozen private assets is “incompatible with the Federal Constitution and the existing legal order and violates Switzerland’s international obligations “, the press release of the government in Bern states.

• “Other countries have similar constitutional rights and guarantees,” the Swiss government said.

At the same time, he assured that support for Ukraine will continue, “regardless of the discussions regarding the frozen assets” of Russian oligarchs.

Swiss banks also opposed the confiscation. “There is currently no legal basis for confiscation,” the Swiss Bankers Association said last month.

The government’s announcement in Bern is sure to spark controversy.

German Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck on Wednesday criticized the Swiss government for refusing to send ammunition for Gepard tanks to Ukraine, The Guardian reports. Habek said in an interview with Die Zeit that he “cannot understand” why Switzerland does not supply Kyiv with ammunition.

Russian oligarchs, the assets of almost 19 billion euros have been frozen in the EU

Following sanctions imposed on Russia after the start of its invasion of Ukraine, the assets of Russian oligarchs worth almost 19 billion euros have been frozen in the EU, and Western powers have blocked Russia’s access to about 300 billion dollars of its foreign exchange or gold reserves. Moscow called this step “theft”.

Although Switzerland is not part of the EU, it has joined successive rounds of sanctions imposed on Russia by the EU bloc, but this has sparked heated domestic debate over the interpretation of Switzerland’s traditional neutrality.

At the international level, there are discussions about the use of frozen Russian assets for the reconstruction of Ukraine. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced on Wednesday that the EU will carry out an accurate inventory of frozen assets belonging to the Central Bank of Russia, with the aim of their “possible use” to rebuild Ukraine.

• “We will pursue (Russian) oligarchs who try to hide or sell their assets to avoid sanctions.
• And together with the member states, we will review the frozen assets of the Russian Central Bank in the EU. You need to know where and how many there are. This is extremely important in view of the possible use of Russian assets to finance the reconstruction of Ukraine,” said Ursula von der Leyen, announcing the details of the 10th package of sanctions against Russia that the EU is preparing.