Swiss Gov't Aligns With EU On Oil, Services Sanctions

Law360, London (June 30, 2022, 12:37 PM BST) -- The Swiss government has announced it will adopt most of the financial and trade sanctions imposed on Moscow by the European Union, including a trading ban on Russian crude oil and petroleum products alongside a range of financial and professional services restrictions.

Switzerland's policymaking Federal Council announced Wednesday the decision to impose many of the same sanctions as those rolled out by the EU in May. Among the measures being rolled out, the country will introduce an embargo on Russian crude oil and a ban on professional services such as auditors, public relations or consulting businesses tied to the Kremlin.

"As a result, Switzerland has now implemented most of the new EU measures against Russia," the government said in a statement.

But, unlike the EU's sixth tranche of sanctions, Switzerland has not yet banned the awarding of public contracts to Russian nationals or organizations with ties to the country.

The changes came into effect on Wednesday, but the government said its oil embargo will be effective from early 2023 following a transition period.

"In order to take into account the complex transitional periods foreseen by the EU, exceptions are envisaged in Switzerland for Russian oil and petroleum products that were legally imported into an EU member state prior to the new measures," the government wrote in a statement.

The country's financial watchdog, the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority, or FINMA, added on Thursday that the oil embargo "prohibits the provision of services, including insurance and reinsurance, for the transportation of oil and certain petroleum products from Russia, regardless of destination."

FINMA also said that some existing measures have been supplemented with new exemptions, such as bans on providing services to Russian trusts.

Content produced by certain Russian media companies — including state-owned Russia Today and Sputnik — will no longer be shown by Swiss broadcasters under the latest suite of sanctions.

The financial watchdog extended its suspension of Sberbank's Swiss arm on June 1. The watchdog said the extension will last until August because of continuing liquidity risks and greater Western sanctions on the bank.

Switzerland also matched the EU in March when it banned Russian banks from using the SWIFT global financing messaging network.

 --Editing by Ed Harris.

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