Swiss report big drop in frozen Russian assets

Switzerland has frozen Russian assets worth 5.8 billion Swiss francs ($6.36 billion), the government said on Tuesday, a big drop that could intensify international pressure on the neutral country to do more to sanction Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine. The figure, which applies to assets frozen at the end of 2023, was down from the 7.5 billion francs in assets frozen at the end of 2022.

The main reason was a decrease in the market value of the shares and other financial assets which have been blocked, said the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO), which oversees sanctions.