The multi-billion dollar assets of the Russian central bank in Switzerland

Some 300 billion euros from the Russian central bank would be in Europe and the G7 countries. Nobody knows where and how much. It was also unclear for a long time how much of this money was stored in Switzerland.

The Ministry of Economic Affairs (EAER) has now clarified and informed the Federal Council at its meeting on Wednesday: The total amount of reserves and assets of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation in Switzerland is approximately CHF 7.4 billion, according to a statement.

It is not known how much is in the accounts of the Basel-based Bank for International Settlements (BIS). It is also known as “the central bank of central banks” and manages the foreign exchange reserves of the member central banks – and therefore probably also the Russian central bank.

Switzerland observes reconstruction talks with Russian money

The background is a notification obligation that the Federal Council decided at the end of March. All persons, organizations and institutions dealing with the reserves and assets of the Central Bank of Russia had to report this to the State Secretariat of Economic Affairs (Seco) in mid-April.

According to the WBF, the obligation to report under EU sanctions also applies in the EU. Discussions are currently underway there on whether the money should be invested and the associated proceeds used for the reconstruction of Ukraine. Switzerland is closely following these talks, it said.

Switzerland has frozen another 7.5 billion

The 7.4 billion francs are immobile assets, as the EAER emphasizes. The reason: All transactions related to the management of reserves and assets of the Russian central bank have been banned since March 25, 2022.

Switzerland has also frozen another CHF 7.5 billion from sanctioned individuals, companies and organizations. According to Seco boss Helene Budliger Artieda, this equates to more than a third of the €21.5 billion blocked across the EU. In that respect, she had to defend herself against international criticism at the beginning of April.