The ruble rolls: “Swiss companies fill Putin’s war chest”

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Ukrainian Irina Pavlova (38) has an ambivalent relationship with Switzerland. She did her master’s degree in Geneva – “a great time”, as she says. Later she moved to Munich (D). Since Putin’s war of aggression against Ukraine, she no longer understands Switzerland: because of its neutrality – and because Swiss companies still do business in Russia.

Pavlova works for the NGO B4Ukraine. Behind it are pro-Ukrainian organizations that want to cut off the money supply to Putin. Pavlova is convinced that the more companies leave Russia, the more pressure Putin will have.

Switzerland on stage

According to a study by B4Ukraine and the Kiev School of Economics, Switzerland ranks third when it comes to foreign companies in Russia. Number one are US companies with a turnover of 40 billion dollars (about 36 billion Swiss francs), followed by Germany with 23.2 billion and Switzerland with 14.3 billion, as reported by the “FAZ”. Swiss companies alone paid the Russian state 275 million in profits tax. “Swiss companies fill Putin’s war chest,” criticizes Pavlova. The Swiss share of 275 million has been calculated conservatively – after all, there are other taxes such as VAT.

B4Ukraine assumes that there are still 77 companies with Swiss headquarters active in Russia. The frontrunner is Geneva-based tobacco company Japan Tobacco International (JTI), followed by commodities trader Glencore, pharmaceutical giant Novartis and agricultural conglomerate Syngenta. Roche, chocolate manufacturer Barry Callebaut, food retailer Nestlé and Ems Chemie are also on the list available to SonntagsBlick.

The companies’ activities in Russia are legal as they are not affected by the sanctions. But are they legit? No, thinks Andrii Onopriienko (43), economist in Kiev. “We call on all companies to withdraw from Russia. Our data shows that foreign companies have even increased their turnover in 2022 compared to 2021.”

What do the Swiss companies say about this? Japan Tobacco International (JTI) disputes the figure reported by Kiev, according to which the group generated nearly $8 billion in sales in Russia in 2022. JTI assumes two billion. However, the group confirms: the Russian company accounts for eleven percent of turnover – and is therefore disproportionately large compared to other Swiss groups.

Ems Group has reduced its presence in Russia

Glencore emphasizes that the group has “no operational presence” in Russia, but wants to “fulfill the legal obligations from existing contracts”. Syngenta says: “We want to help farmers in Russia not to lose their harvest.” The chocolate group Barry Callebaut said: “The continuation of our business in Russia during this difficult time is due to our commitment to supplying food to our customers.” The Ems Group says: “Things have now collapsed. The workforce was reduced to approximately 35 employees.”

Yale professor Jeffrey Sonnenfeld (69) has kept a blacklist of international companies active in Russia since the outbreak of the war. According to Sonnenfeld, errors have crept into the Kiev data. Nevertheless, he sharply criticizes the companies that remain in Russia: “It is cynical and misleading because their presence feeds Putin’s war machine.” Swiss companies should also leave Russia to put pressure on Russian society. Everything else is a “complicity in Putin’s bloody invasion”.

Source:Blick