Russia sanctions – Seco tracks down trivial cases instead of big fish – News


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Switzerland is under international scrutiny for its handling of Russian funds and commodity trading. Bern assured that the violations would be punished. But a closer look reveals a surprising picture.

According to the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (Seco), more than 20 administrative penal proceedings have been initiated so far for possible violations in connection with the Russia sanctions.

SRF now has the first two legally binding penalty notices. In one case, a company wanted to deliver 1,850 kilograms of lubricants to Russia, in another it was about delivering pumps and spare parts to Belarus.

This is only about cases in the goods sector that were discovered by chance. In finance, we have no idea.

Neither company knew that this was forbidden. They acted negligently and therefore received fines of 4,500 and 2,000 francs.

Criticism of the Seco is loud

SP National Councilor Fabian Molina has long criticized Seco as too toothless. Now he feels confirmed by these first penalties. “We’re only talking about cases in the goods sector that were discovered by accident. In finance, we have no idea.”

Excerpts from the Seco penal decisions

Molina speaks of coincidence, because customs found the lubricants and pumps for Russia and Belarus. It was the same in nine other cases. Customs stopped the delivery of watch parts, laboratory tools and a saxophone. In all nine cases, however, Seco discontinued the proceedings because no sanctions were violated. The hiring orders are available to SRF.

So far, none of the proceedings have involved blocked funds or raw material transactions, but rather smaller deliveries of goods that got stuck at customs.

Entrance area of ​​the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs, SECO in Bern (Image: 2014)

Legend:

KEYSTONE/Peter Schneider

It’s not just left-wing parliamentarians who frown, but also Central President Gerhard Pfister. “It seems that Seco is mainly active when reported by customs. I’m not sure if the authorities in Switzerland are really investigating whether the Swiss trading and financial center is clean.

Lack of authority and resources

Does Seco look too little at finance and commodities? The authority writes on request: “The Seco rejects the accusation that it looks too little. Within the framework of the applicable laws, Seco consistently follows up on indications of possible violations.»

The Seco receives support from Andrea Caroni. The vice-president of the FDP says that the responsible parliamentary commissions are in constant contact with Economics Minister Guy Pamelin. “They assure us that they will follow up on all reports. The organization of the authorities per se seems to me to work that way.”

We have no detectives, we have no police. I wouldn’t even have the skills to do that.

Goods are checked by customs as standard. This is not the case with financial and commodity transactions. Seco boss Helene Budliger Artieda recently said in Radio SRF’s “Samstagsrundschau” when asked about the ban on trading in Russian coal: “We have to rely on companies that are in Switzerland to comply with legal requirements in Switzerland. We have no detectives, we have no police. I wouldn’t have the skills to do that.”

Centre-left calls for a harder pace

That’s not how it works, criticizes Fabian Molina. “That means it is up to the banks and commodity traders themselves to comply with the sanctions. And now it is not completely unreasonable to claim that there are also black sheep.”

The SP and the Greens are therefore calling for active controls at banks and commodity companies. Andrea Caroni is skeptical: “I’m rather reserved. You have to ask yourself: What does that mean for other areas of life, where you could also say: ‘Oh, we need laws so that the authorities can walk into private companies at any time.’»

After the Credit Suisse case, I don’t want people to say, ‘why didn’t we check that again?’

Center President Gerhard Pfister is responsible for controls. He makes a comparison with the Credit Suisse debacle. “We’ve just had a Sunday on which criticism of the supervision became public. I want to avoid that at some point in a few months it’s like, ‘Why didn’t we check that again?'”

Like the left, Pfister supports a task force to enforce the sanctions. The Council of States is expected to decide on this in June.

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