The Swiss voice in the world since 1935
Top stories
Stay in touch with Switzerland

US adds Swiss ‘facilitators’ and firms to Russian sanctions list

Alisher Usmanov
Alisher Usmanov, pictured here in 2007, has a global network of companies and 'facilitators'. Keystone / Str

Three Swiss citizens and two companies have been added to the United States sanctions list for supporting Russian oligarchs Alisher Usmanov and Gennady Timchenko.

On Wednesday the US treasury department updated its sanctions listExternal link to take in a range of people and entities based in numerous countries, including Cyprus, China, Britain and the United Arab Emirates.

The three Swiss individuals are named as “facilitators” linked to the Sequoia legal firm registered in the neighbouring principality of Liechtenstein.

Sequoia is suspected of providing “financial, material, or technological support to, or goods or services to or in support of Timchenko”.

The Geneva-based Pomerol Capital is named as a trustee of the Sister Trust, a Bermuda entity allegedly run on behalf of Usmanov and his sister Gulbakhor Ismailova.

Iron ore supplier and mining group Metalloinvest Trading, based in canton Zug, has also been linked to Usmanov.

The US is applying pressure on Switzerland to ratchet up sanctions against Russia. The US ambassador to Bern believes Switzerland’s current CHF7.5 billion ($8.3 billion) haul of frozen assets could be increased to CHF100 billion.

But the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs, the department responsible for enforcing sanctions, has dismissed claims that it is dragging its feet.

Popular Stories

Most Discussed

News

Beznau power plant restarted after the Aare River cools down

More

Swiss nuclear power plant restarts as Aare River cools down

This content was published on The Beznau nuclear power station in canton Aargau has been generating electricity again since Tuesday, as the Aare River has cooled down. Both reactors had been disconnected last week.

Read more: Swiss nuclear power plant restarts as Aare River cools down
The ICRC has to cut its budget for next year by 17 per cent

More

Red Cross faces 17% budget cut

This content was published on The International Committee of the Red Cross must cut its budget by 17% by the end of the year.

Read more: Red Cross faces 17% budget cut

In compliance with the JTI standards

More: SWI swissinfo.ch certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative

You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!

If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at [email protected].

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR
OSZAR »