The Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) has granted requests from a firm representing the interests of a trust founded many years ago by Russian businessman Alisher Usmanov for the exclusive release of over EUR 6.5 million in assets frozen in the country to pay maintenance bills for two helicopters in France and real estate in England. This was reported by the Tages-Anzeiger newspaper in connection with the SECO resolution of December 22, 2022.
According to documents obtained by the publication, the relevant requests were submitted by the trust firm in the summer and autumn of 2022. They concerned the payment of bills for the maintenance of helicopters in France and real estate in England, which were issued on the basis of contracts concluded before the imposition of sanctions. As Usmanov's lawyer explained to the newspaper, the helicopters and real estate do not belong to the entrepreneur, but to trusts that he created many years ago and which neither he nor his relatives own or control.
Representatives of the trust claim that in the case of helicopters, a local company has initiated legal proceedings to seize one of them. In the situation with the residence near London, several construction companies would face bankruptcy if their services were not paid for as soon as possible. As a result, as the publication writes, the secretariat approved a payment for the maintenance of real estate in England, which the Swiss authorities associate with the businessman, in the amount of about 4.2 million EUR, as well as for the maintenance of helicopters - almost 2.4 million EUR.
As sanctions expert and professor of German law Viktor Winkler told Tages-Anzeiger, the release of funds in this case is in accordance with legal requirements. The publication also notes that the use of frozen assets helps to avoid taxpayers' expenses for maintaining the confiscated property of Russian businessmen, as was the case in the United States. Thus, the American authorities are forced to spend about $ 7 million a year on the maintenance of one of the Russian yachts.
According to information published on theSECO website, the agency can unfreeze funds frozen as a result of sanctions in exceptional cases. To do this, restricted persons must prove, for example, that this is a difficult situation or a case where funds are needed to fulfill old contracts.