Switzerland Reports $112 Mln In Frozen Syrian Assets

There are currently 99 million Swiss francs ($112 million) worth of frozen Syrian assets in Switzerland, most of which have been blocked for years, the Swiss government said.

The bulk of the total has been frozen since Switzerland adopted European Union sanctions against Syria in May 2011, the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) said.

Switzerland this week added three more people to its Syria-related sanctions list, following a move by the EU.

“There are currently 318 individuals and 87 entities on the sanctions list,” a SECO spokesperson told newsmen, declining to say if Switzerland had frozen any assets of ousted Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

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.

REUTERS/Christopher Ojilere