Switzerland will adopt fourth EU sanctions package against Russia
The Swiss government has announced it will implement the European Union’s latest round of sanctions that includes a ban on the export of luxury goods to Russia.
Switzerland will impose restrictions on transactions with certain state-owned companies and a ban on providing rating services for Russian customers or organisations.
A ban on export of luxury goods will also be a part of the measures and is meant to target the Russian elite. According to the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry, Russia is the 17th largest market by value for Swiss watch exports bringing in CHF260 million ($278 million) in revenue in 2021.
The government downplayed the impact of this on the Swiss luxury sector but admitted that some businesses will be hit harder than others.
“The contained ban on the export of luxury goods affects only a small proportion of Switzerland’s worldwide exports of this group of goods. However, individual companies can be severely affected,” said an official press releaseExternal link on Friday.
An additional 197 individuals and nine organisations will be added to the list of applicable sanctions. No date was given for the implementation of the Swiss sanctions.
“The corresponding measures will come into force in the next few days after the publication of the amended ‘Regulation on Measures in Connection with the Situation in Ukraine’,” said the official statement.
In compliance with the JTI standards
More: SWI swissinfo.ch certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here. Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.