Canton Zug finds ‘no matches’ on Russian sanctions list
Finance authorities in low-tax business location Zug say their investigations have found no individuals or firms on the Swiss/EU Russian sanctions list operating in the canton.
This content was published on
2 minutes
Keystone-SDA/SRF/dos
Русский
ru
Активы олигархов и санкции: Кантон Цуг говорит, «их там нет»
After criticism that the region wasn’t doing enough to chase down oligarchs and sanctioned firms, Zug’s finance ministry said it had since gone beyond the due diligence required by the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO), which is coordinating the sanctions implementation.
Zug finance minister Heinz Tännler, who caused a stir last month when he said he was not a “detective” chasing down every case, said on Thursday he was not surprised by the results of the review.
“Sometimes there is an impression that every business with Russian links is on the sanctions list,” Tännler told public radio SRF. But after going through the list of names decided by the EU – and also adopted by Switzerland – his canton recorded “no hits”, he said.
Blanket judgement
Tännler also warned against “pre-emptive blanket judgements of Russian citizens,” and clarified his earlier comments: at the time, it wasn’t yet clear exactly what federal authorities wanted the cantons to check, he said.
He added that Zug unreservedly supported the implementation of the sanctions, and that in the search for oligarchs, his canton was often “exaggeratedly portrayed”. It would be worth looking at other places like Geneva, Vaud and parts of Bern and Graubünden, he said.
That said, civil servants in Zug haven’t fully finished their proofing of the list, the finance ministry wrote in a press releaseExternal link: due to the different ways that names can be translated from the Cyrillic to the Latin alphabets, they are still verifying certain cases.
More
More
Meet the oligarchs: Switzerland’s awkward guests
This content was published on
The Swiss authorities and media are busy hunting down links between Switzerland and sanctioned Russian oligarchs.
Swiss national science foundation funded over 5,000 projects in 2023
This content was published on
In 2023, the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) provided a total of CHF961 million worth of funding towards research projects.
Switzerland invites 160 delegations to June Ukraine peace talks
This content was published on
Russia is currently not among the delegations invited to talks aimed at helping bring about peace in the conflict between Moscow and Ukraine.
Survey: air travel most popular way to go on holidays for Swiss
This content was published on
Despite the climate crisis, flying is the most popular mode of transport for private travel – particularly among young, urban and high-income travellers.
Swiss government to use phone data to identify asylum seekers
This content was published on
From April 2025, authorities plan to be able to analyse data from mobile phones, computers and other data carriers to identify asylum seekers.
Young undocumented migrants gain easier access to vocational training
This content was published on
Rejected asylum-seekers and young undocumented migrants in Switzerland will have easier access to basic vocational training from June 1.
Migration: Swiss government wants to shorten reunification period for families
This content was published on
Family members of people temporarily admitted to Switzerland should in future be able to join them after two years instead of three.
This content was published on
2023 was a record year for the Rhaetian Railway in several respects. Never before has the narrow-gauge railway in Graubünden, eastern Switzerland, transported so many passengers and cars.
Russia sanctions: Nord Stream 2 fires more than 140 people in Zug
This content was published on
Swiss-based company Nord Stream 2, which is in charge of the gas pipeline project between Russia and Germany, has made employees redundant.
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.