The Swiss government is to start collecting data from companies trading in commodities as the Ukraine conflict underscores the importance of the sector for both domestic and foreign policy, the Federal Council said in a statement released Wednesday. Switzerland currently has no official data on the contribution of the commodities trade to the country's GDP or goods traded by locally-based companies.
The move comes as Switzerland is juggling the implementation of Western sanctions against Russian resources with its status as a major hub for trading the country’s energy, grains and metals and a history of neutrality in international conflicts. Switzerland accounts for more than a third of global crude oil trade, more than two-thirds of metals trade and more than 35% of global agricultural trade, according to research, the report said.
Over the next three years, the state statistics office will request information from about 400 companies, the statement said.
The move comes as Switzerland is juggling the implementation of Western sanctions against Russian resources with its status as a major hub for trading the country’s energy, grains and metals and a history of neutrality in international conflicts. Switzerland accounts for more than a third of global crude oil trade, more than two-thirds of metals trade and more than 35% of global agricultural trade, according to research, the report said.
Wait ... They did not calculate the impact before imposing sanctions. Now they want to know. In three years.
Switzerland imported more than 14 tons of gold from Russia during October 2023 for processing, taking advantage of the fact that it was shipped through third countries, and thus did not violate Western sanctions, the latest data from the Swiss Federal Council has revealed. In October, the Alpine country’s gold imports totaled CHF776 million ($879 million), of which $875.7 million worth of the gold originated from Russia and was delivered through the UK and Moldova, data showed.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán (Nov 22, 2023) - » Europe has lost its capacity for self-determination. « Speech and talk on being a soccer player and a politician; on Ukraine and the West a.k.a. NATOstan loosing the war; on sovereignty and national interests of Hungary as a member of the European Union; on how Hungary stopped illegal migration; on the decline and demise of the European Union - in Zurich, Switzerland.