Switzerland is currently holding assets worth 99 million Swiss francs ($112 million) in frozen Syrian funds, the Swiss government revealed on Wednesday. The majority of these assets have been blocked since 2011, following Switzerland’s adoption of European Union sanctions against Syria.
The Swiss government’s State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (Seco) confirmed the freezing of assets in a statement, noting that these sanctions were imposed in response to Syria’s ongoing civil conflict and its government’s actions. This week, Switzerland added three more individuals to its Syria-related sanctions list, in line with recent European Union actions.
As of now, Switzerland has 318 individuals and 87 entities on its sanctions list. However, Seco did not disclose whether the assets of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad were included in the freeze.
Swiss financial institutions once held blocked Syrian assets worth 130 million Swiss francs ($147 million), the Neue Zuercher Zeitung newspaper reported.
“Fluctuations in the total amount of restricted assets can be explained by several factors, including fluctuations in the value of restricted securities accounts and exchange rate effects and the delisting of certain sanctioned persons or entities,” the Seco spokesperson said.
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