Switzerland says it has frozen assets worth $112 million belonging to Syria because of ongoing sanctions

According to EU sanctions, Switzerland has $112 million in frozen Syrian assets that have been mostly restricted since 2011.

Switzerland’s government said Wednesday that it now has 99 million Swiss francs ($112 million) in frozen Syrian finances. Switzerland adopted European Union sanctions against Syria in 2011, which led to the blocking of most of these assets.

In an announcement, the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (Seco) of the Swiss government acknowledged the asset freeze and said the penalties were put in place in reaction to the government’s actions and the ongoing civil war in Syria. Switzerland followed previous European Union measures by adding three additional people to its list of those subject to sanctions relating to Syria this week.

Switzerland now has 87 organizations and 318 people on its list of sanctioned entities. Nevertheless, Seco did not reveal if the freeze applied to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s assets.

According to the Neue Zuercher Zeitung newspaper, Swiss financial institutions formerly held prohibited Syrian assets valued at 130 million Swiss francs ($147 million).

The spokeswoman for Seco stated that “variations in the value of restricted securities accounts, exchange rate effects, and the delisting of certain sanctioned persons or entities can be explained by several factors, including fluctuations in the total amount of restricted assets.”