The State Secretariat for Economic Affairs of Switzerland has confirmed that it is investigating reports from the media regarding the alleged supply of Swiss-produced cartridges to Ukraine by a Polish company. This was reported by the Swiss-language RTS broadcaster.
On Thursday, the Swiss newspaper Neue Zürcher Zeitung published an article claiming that the Polish company UMO SP had re-exported ammunition to Ukraine, produced by the SwissP Defence company.
Additionally, NZZ refers to another article published on November 1 in the specialized publication DefenseOne. It reported, with reference to customs documents, on two instances of importing 145 thousand sniper rounds and 500 thousand cartridges for assault rifles into Ukraine.
NZZ points out that such exports violate Switzerland's policy, which prohibits the re-export of military equipment and goods to countries where active hostilities are taking place. The media adds that private companies like UMO SP are not obliged to obtain re-export permits.
In response to the request from the AFP agency, the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs of Switzerland, responsible for re-export permits, stated that it is "conducting an investigation into this matter" but "will not provide any comments while the investigation is ongoing."
The Polish company UMO SP itself assured AFP that all its international contracts are "executed with caution, in accordance with certification procedures and compliance rules."
"We have not identified any alarming information or violations of procedures in the case described in the media," stated UMO SP, emphasizing that all its agreements "are subject to careful control by the government of the exporting country and supervisory authorities under the Polish government."
It is known that Switzerland's current neutrality prohibits direct arms deliveries to conflict zones. This rule applies even if another country has purchased weapons from Switzerland; the purchasing countries must sign a so-called non-re-export declaration.
