Mr Pieth, you describe Switzerland as a pirate haven.

Why?

John Knight

Correspondent for politics and economy in Switzerland.

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On the front, Switzerland offers a beautiful picture with its colorful flower boxes and blue lakes.

But behind them are actors who are causing serious damage all over the world.

Switzerland is very often the point of contact for people who don't always follow the law.

The spectrum is broad, ranging from entrepreneurs who bribe from here, to sports associations with corrupt members, to financial institutions that are open to potentates and oligarchs.

Of course, official Switzerland would put it differently.

She would say: We are cosmopolitan and liberal.

The population is increasingly having trouble with this attitude.

You no longer want to be the port where pirates meet to stock up on everything they need for their raids.

Is Switzerland a paradise for oligarchs?

Switzerland is a gateway for rich Russians to the West.

Business relationships with the oligarchs are diverse.

Some only have a holiday home in Gstaad or Sankt Moritz;

others send their children to boarding schools and universities in Switzerland.

The Swiss Confederation is a relatively safe place.

The problem is that Russians have deposited a lot of money in Swiss banks.

The Bankers Association assumes that it could be up to 200 billion francs.

Despite this, the Swiss government only joined the EU's sanctions against Russia at the end of February after a deadlock lasting several days.

Why?

After the annexation of Crimea in 2014, Switzerland only half-heartedly supported the EU's sanctions.

The oligarchs were not bothered, they were able to carry on happily here.

Bern was not prepared for the current crisis.

Our multi-party government is not incredibly crisis-proof.

She fell into a kind of shock.

And, of course, economic interests also played a role.

Only the pressure from the population and from abroad made the government switch to the sanctions course of the EU.

Have the oligarchs gained time to get their nests dry because of the impasse?

Yes, it may well be that a relatively large amount of money has been drained.

Sanctioned businessmen such as billionaire Andrei Melnitschenko, owner of the Zug-based fertilizer company Euro-Chem, were able to transfer their company shares to third parties before the sanctions came into force in Switzerland.

This is evidence of the incompetence of the Swiss government – ​​or of the fact that the once courted oligarchs wanted to be given a loophole.

But then you would be their accomplice.

Our understanding of neutrality makes it possible to do business quickly in an acute crisis.

I only remember the Second World War, the years of the Cold War and apartheid, when Switzerland, under the guise of neutrality, did business with everyone, including criminal regimes.

According to the Ministry of Economic Affairs, assets worth more than seven billion Swiss francs have been blocked so far.