Switzerland bans exports to Polish company over munitions in Ukraine - AP
Kyiv • UNN
Switzerland has banned exports to a Polish military equipment supplier for violating the law. 645,000 Swiss rounds of ammunition were shipped to Ukraine through a Polish company in violation of the contract.
The Swiss government said on Friday that it is banning exports to a Polish military equipment supplier after concluding that about 645,000 rounds of Swiss small-caliber ammunition ended up in Ukraine in violation of Swiss law, AP reports, UNN writes.
Details
The country's State Secretariat for Economic Affairs said that exports to the Polish company would be banned because "the risk of diversion to Ukraine is assessed as too high.
Switzerland has long advertised its neutrality in world affairs, and Swiss law prohibits the export of military equipment owned or manufactured in Switzerland to countries in conflict.
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Nevertheless, the Swiss government has supported the European Union's economic sanctions against Russia for its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
The Secretariat reportedly launched the investigation after "last November, a report by the US news agency Defense One said that a Ukrainian company had received 645,000 rifle rounds of armor-piercing shells manufactured by SwissP Defense and supplied by Polish importer UMO.
"The investigation revealed that the Swiss manufacturer and the Polish company signed a resale agreement stating that the Polish company was authorized to resell the ammunition only in Poland," the secretariat, known as SECO, said in an email to the Associated Press.
The investigation concluded that the Polish company "failed to fulfill its contractual obligations to the Swiss manufacturer, and the ammunition ended up in Ukraine.
SwissP Defense said in an email that "we always comply with the rules" in Switzerland and refused to disclose information about its relationships with clients.
UMO did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.
Addendum
Switzerland has struggled to maintain its reputation as a neutral country in the wake of Russia's full-scale war in Ukraine. Last year, Switzerland insisted that German-made tanks it owned but had written off could not be sent to Ukraine.
However, Switzerland is getting closer to NATO: this week, the Swiss executive approved Switzerland's participation in a crisis management exercise that the alliance will hold next spring, the newspaper notes.