Switzerland has decided to unblock part of the assets of Usmanov's former trusts

The Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) has unblocked more than €6.5 million in Credit Suisse bank accounts of trusts previously linked to billionaire Alisher Usmanov (ranked ninth in the FORBES ranking of the richest Russians with a fortune of $13.4 billion) to pay bills for property maintenance in other jurisdictions, Tages-Anzeiger reports, citing a SECO decision dated December 22, 2022.

Usmanov's lawyer explained to the newspaper that the assets for whose maintenance the funds were freed up belong to trusts that the billionaire set up "many years ago," and not to the businessman or his sister. The SECO ruling states that these trusts are controlled "directly or indirectly" by Usmanov or his sister.

The newspaper explains that the agency can unblock assets in exceptional cases, for example, if the individuals subject to restrictions declare a difficult situation or prove that the funds are needed to fulfill old contracts.

Applications to SECO to unblock funds in Credit Suisse were submitted in 2022 by a Geneva-based trust company representing the interests of several companies associated with Usmanov or his sister, the newspaper writes. The matter concerned the payment of invoices for contracts for the maintenance of two helicopters in France and real estate in England. SECO explained the decision to unblock the funds by the fact that the contracts were concluded before the introduction of sanctions, and non-payment of invoices could lead to a loss of asset value, Tages-Anzeiger notes.

The helicopters, worth 12 million and 15 million Swiss francs ($13 million and $16 million), are based at Le Castelet airfield in southern France, and several invoices have been issued under contracts for the maintenance of the aircraft and hangar, the Geneva-based trustees said. In addition, a local company has already initiated legal proceedings to seize one of the helicopters. SECO has released almost €2.5 million to pay the invoices. Monthly payments of about €54,000 for the maintenance of the helicopters have also been approved.

The Swiss authority has released around €4.2 million to pay the bills for the UK mansion . According to the Geneva trustees, several construction companies are at risk of bankruptcy if they do not receive the payments soon. SECO has also decided to release funds for future lawyers' fees on the condition that the money is used for "protection against sanctions" or "representation in legal proceedings".

Tages-Anzeiger, citing SECO data, writes that by spring 2024, the agency had received more than 300 requests to unblock funds and approved the “vast majority” of them: Russians subject to sanctions were able to gain access to 70–80 million Swiss francs ($76–87 million) in blocked accounts.

A representative of Alisher Usmanov declined to comment to RBC.

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