Switzerland followed the EU in imposing new sanctions against Russia, with 141 individuals and 49 legal entities added to the “black lists,” the Swiss government said in a statement.
“Switzerland, by amending the sanctions lists on December 21, thus joined the EU measures,” the press release said.
“Switzerland is amending the sanctions regime as part of the measures that the EU adopted in connection with the supply of Iranian drones to Russia and the continuing alarming situation in Ukraine,” the document specified.
The sanctions will take effect at 6 p.m. local time.
According to the statement, on December 16, the EU also imposed a ban on exports to Russia of a number of other categories of goods and services, and the Swiss government, in turn, will study these measures.
On December 16, the EU Council approved the ninth package of sanctions against Russia, which includes restrictions against the mining and energy sectors and a ban on exports of space industry goods and drones.
Among other things, the EU also added 168 more entities related to the defense industry of Russia to its “black lists. In addition, the ninth EU sanctions package against Russia included 144 individuals, including high-ranking Russian officials, MPs, military personnel and artists from Russia.
Switzerland on Wednesday approved the eighth package of sanctions against Russia, which includes the introduction of a “ceiling” on Russian oil prices.
“The Swiss Federal Council adopted another set of sanctions against Russia on November 23. The council approved the measures adopted by the European Union as part of the eighth sanctions package,” the document published on the Federal Council’s website reads.
“The sanctions include a legal basis for imposing a ‘ceiling’ on prices of Russian oil and oil products, as well as restrictions on iron and steel goods, aerospace products and goods of economic importance to Russia,” the statement stressed.
It is specified that the sanctions will take effect at 18:00 Wednesday local time (19:00 KSC).
The new measures also include a ban on the provision of IT, engineering, architectural and legal services to the Russian authorities and companies. In addition, a ban is introduced for citizens of Switzerland to occupy managerial positions in some companies owned by Russia.
The document notes that on October 12, the Swiss authorities added 30 more individuals and entities to the sanctions list for Russia.
The EU adopted the eighth package of sanctions with similar measures on October 6 in response to Russia’s escalation of military aggression against Ukraine.
At its meeting on November 2, the Swiss Federal Council adopted an action plan to mitigate the impact of the coming winter on the people of Ukraine. Switzerland is providing CHF 100 million in aid, in particular for projects financing the urgent rehabilitation of Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, the press service of the Council has reported.
“Around 18 million people in Ukraine – some 40 per cent of the population – are dependent on aid due to the war. With the onset of winter, this number may rise to 24 million. Over 30 per cent of Ukraine’s energy infrastructure has been damaged. The targeted attacks have left many places without access to drinking water, as well as disrupting power and telecommunications. Ukraine requires additional aid from the international community to deal with this emergency,” the Council said.
In this regard, the Federal Council adopted the Winter Aid Action Plan to support the people of Ukraine. In addition to its existing humanitarian undertaking in Ukraine and the region, including projects to support the urgent rehabilitation of energy infrastructure and alleviate the precarious humanitarian situation. Switzerland is helping Ukrainian energy companies purchase energy sources and spare parts, contributing to the repair of rail fastening systems (for the transport of heavy goods such as grain) and providing humanitarian support to help those worst affected by the war in Ukraine to prepare for winter (replacing windows, providing insulation and food, etc.). Efforts are also under way to determine if Switzerland can supply further relief goods such as generators, pumps or water treatment installations.
The Federal Council will submit a request to Parliament for a supplementary credit of CHF 76 million to cover these lines of action.
A memorandum of partnership in the field of digital transformation was signed between Ukraine and Switzerland, according to the Telegram channel of the President of Ukraine.
“A memorandum of partnership in the field of digital transformation was signed between Ukraine and Switzerland. We plan to deepen our cooperation to help restore Ukraine through digitalization,” the report says.
The parties also discussed the possibilities of Swiss assistance in supporting digitalization and restoration of telecommunications systems in the recently occupied territories of Ukraine.
At the request of the Ukrainian authorities, Switzerland is providing Ukraine with a batch of equipment for extinguishing fires, cleaning polluted water and clearing rubble, the Federal Council of Switzerland reports.
“The Federal Ministry of Defence, Civil Defense and Sports and the city of Basel provided equipment worth a total of 5.2 million Swiss francs. The Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, which is part of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, will finance and organize the transport of goods. The first two trucks left today Switzerland,” the statement said.
It is noted that all cargo will be transported by land transport in stages. The first two trucks with four construction vehicles left for Ukraine today. In total, Switzerland will supply 20 construction vehicles, three fire trucks and a smaller vehicle to transport equipment and personnel, two mobile containers for the collection and treatment of contaminated water, and two containers for emergency response, including handling equipment, lighting equipment and generators.
The goods will be handed over to the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine after on-site training of specialists conducted by the Swiss Humanitarian Aid Unit. Then the Ukrainian authorities will transport the equipment to places, including Kharkiv, for restoration and repair work.
Switzerland has allocated CHF2.5 million (about UAH 100 million) to support milk production farms in the war-affected regions – Chernihiv, Kyiv and Sumy regions, the main attention will be paid to the hygiene of the milking process.
The corresponding humanitarian project is being implemented at the request of the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine in cooperation with the Association of Milk Producers of Ukraine (AMA), the #SaveUA international charitable foundation and the State Service of Ukraine for Food Safety and Consumer Protection, according to the website of the Ministry of Agrarian Policy on Wednesday.
The goal of the project is to ensure food security in the regions by improving the quality and safety of dairy products produced in the country, mainly by monitoring compliance with the hygiene of its production. In particular, the control over the hygiene of the culture of milking animals will avoid failures in the further processing of milk, on the one hand, and outbreaks of diseases among consumers, on the other.
The Ministry clarified that by August 1, 232 dairy farms had already confirmed the need for humanitarian assistance, of which 95 were from Chernihiv, 78 from Kyiv, 59 from Sumy region.
“With the support of Switzerland, interested milk producers in the affected areas will receive products for washing and disinfecting milking equipment, pre- and post-milk treatment, udder hygiene wipes, gloves, reagents for the detection of latent forms of mastitis, disinfectants for livestock buildings, etc. in the amount of their quarterly needs,” the Ministry of Agrarian Policy said in a statement.
According to the Ministry of Agrarian Policy, until the completion of the project in November 2022, the supported farms will be able to significantly improve their financial condition by restoring product supply chains. It is also important that the purchase of goods will be carried out from Ukrainian suppliers who operated on the market before the war, which will enable them to continue to provide hygiene products and serve dairy farms in the future.
“On the path to restoring the capacity of the Ukrainian dairy sector, it is important to support production technologies built on high hygiene standards for high-quality and safe food products,” the agency concluded in a statement.
As reported, in June the Swiss government announced its intention to hold consultations for more than 100 dairy farms from the above three areas. The government of the country sent a group of consultants to Ukraine, who provided producers with recommendations in the field of restoring livestock productivity, quality control and safety of raw milk.
