Breaking out of its traditional reserve, Switzerland has aligned itself with the sanctions put in place by the European Union against Russia. In response, Moscow seized several watches from luxury Swiss watchmaker Audemars Piguet. The total damage would amount to several million euros.
The Russian authorities cited customs offenses to justify the search of the local subsidiary of the company on March 22. But, for the Swiss Ministry of Foreign Affairs, whose remarks are relayed by the Swiss magazine NZZ, the intervention of the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) constitutes “very probably an arbitrary repressive measure in response to the sanctions”.
As a reminder, Switzerland has notably ordered the immediate freezing of the assets of Russian personalities and entities appearing on the EU blacklist. Banks thus have the obligation to report the persons or companies targeted by sanctions to the Ministry of the Economy. Insofar as there is no legal basis allowing the confiscation of the funds in Switzerland, the assets are blocked but remain the property of the person concerned.
At the same time, Switzerland has also taken over the ban on the export of luxury goods to Russia, while the measure could “heavily affect” certain companies in the country, according to the Swiss government. In this case, the Audemars Piguet brand has stopped all exports to Russia since February.