“We are not the center of Russian wealth”

Finance Minister Ueli Maurer (71) does not believe in Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s (44) proposal to seize frozen Russian assets and transfer them to Ukraine.

“This is out of the question,” he said in an interview with “Finanz und Wirtschaft” after the annual meeting of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank in Washington (USA). It is important to advocate the preservation of property. The SVP Federal Council further emphasizes: “But you must also say: We are not the center of Russian assets, as is sometimes thought.”

“There will be social unrest”

Also, Maurer accuses the West of waging an economic war against China. He thinks it’s a mistake: “The world needs the free exchange of goods and globalization. In the past, this has led to incredible wealth growth for everyone.”

Restricting globalization will make everyone poorer and lead to further escalation. “Actually, a war of isolation is being waged here. This is extremely dangerous,” Maurer told the newspaper. Because: “The goods will become more expensive and there will be social unrest in many countries.”

Overall, the global economy is in a critical state. “Leaders are missing. There’s hardly anyone who can set the tone that’s guiding right now,” says Maurer. That means we’ll be spinning in the hamster wheel. And: “There’s a lot of smart people here, good analysts, but we’re missing those who do.”

“weakening the economy”

The Bundestag, who resigned at the end of the year, also criticized basic social developments. “People chased after arousing problems that weakened the economy and increased debt,” says Maurer. As a result, there is often no majority to solve urgent problems. (pbe)