Yugoslav bank accuses Switzerland of dragging feet over Milosevic accounts

Yugoslav Central Bank governor, Mladjan Dankic, said Switzerland was an "accomplice" of Milosevic Keystone Archive

The governor of Yugoslavia's Central Bank, Mladjan Dinkic, has criticised Switzerland for not doing more to search for assets belonging to the former Yugoslav leader, Slobodan Milosevic.

Dinkic’s criticism appeared in an article by the Swiss weekly, L’Hebdo. He said the lack of information from Swiss authorities on Milosevic’s missing millions, has hindered Yugoslavia’s case against the former president.

He also referred to Switzerland as the “latest accomplice” of Milosevic, who is now in custody and awaiting trial on charges of corruption in Yugoslavia.

Ottmar Wyss, who is in charge of Export Controls and Sanctions at the Swiss Secretariat for Economic Affairs (Seco), told swissinfo that Dinkic’s accusations were unfounded.

He said Belgrade had to fulfil the Swiss legal requirement of lodging a formal request for cooperation in the investigation, before Switzerland could act.

He added that Switzerland was ready to assist the Yugoslav authorities in every possible way, within the framework of the Swiss legal system.

The Yugoslav bank governor also claimed that Switzerland had access to information that would help to advance the Yugoslavia’s case against Milosevic.

Wyss said such information could be given only if an indictment against Milosevic and his entourage is launched in Yugoslavia.

“Mr Dinkic is desperate and he wants to get information, and we can’t give this information on the basis of suspicion,” Wyss told swissinfo.

The Milosevic family reportedly embezzled close to $4 billion between 1992 and 1993.

Dinkic alleged in the L’Hebdo article that part of the money was deposited in Swiss banks and that there are around 100 questionable accounts belonging to Yugoslav nationals, worth up to SFr170 million.

Thirty-nine of them were frozen by Switzerland because of their links to Milosevic last December.

Bern had initially said that Sfr125 to SFr170 million of the blocked assets, belonged to the Yugoslavia financial insitution, Investbanka. The Swiss authorities later discovered that the money was actually part of a Yugoslavia debt dating back to the 1980s.

Wyss explained that of the remaining SFr45 million, SFr11 million related to private accounts. He also said that Bern had since recognised the error.

However, Dinkic has yet to be convinced by any of the explanations from Switzerland. He has attributed the missing SFr125 million to kickbacks from the privatisation of Telecom Serbia in 1997.

Wyss on the other hand did not comment on the possibility of bribery in the case. He stressed that the Swiss authorities are ready to collaborate on a legal basis with Yugoslavia, and that they had invited a Yugoslav delegation to visit the country, next week.

swissinfo with agencies