The Ukraine Ordinance and the adoption of the European packages

The total revision of 4 March 2022 and the structure of the ordinance

The listings of 28 February 2022 were made under the old ordinance of 2014, which had been designed to prevent circumvention and was too narrow for the measures that followed. On 4 March 2022 the Federal Council therefore adopted a totally revised Ordinance on Measures in connection with the Situation in Ukraine, SR 946.231.176.72 (the "Ukraine Ordinance"). It introduced an export ban on dual-use goods and on goods that could strengthen Russia's military and technological capacity, prohibitions on services to the oil sector and restrictions on support for the Russian aviation industry.¹ The ordinance has since been amended several dozen times. Its structure has remained stable, which makes it easier to read than the European Regulation (EU) No 833/2014, whose articles have multiplied into provisions with double letter suffixes such as Article 5aa.

The ordinance has six sections. The first defines terms. The second, on restrictions of trade, begins with armaments and dual-use goods (Art. 2a–8) and continues with sectoral prohibitions on goods for aviation and space, maritime navigation, oil refining and liquefied natural gas, the energy sector and industry (Art. 9–11a). The provisions on crude oil, petroleum products, tankers and liquefied gas follow (Art. 12a– 12f), together with rules on the occupied Ukrainian territories (Art. 13–14). Article 14a governs iron and steel products, Article 14b luxury goods, Article 14c economically significant goods, Article 14d gold, Article 14e diamonds and Article 14e bis Ukrainian cultural property. Article 14f imposes the duty to include a contractual prohibition of re-export, and Article 14g a corresponding duty for intellectual property rights.²

The third section contains the financial restrictions. Article 15 freezes the funds and economic resources of the persons listed in Annex 8 and prohibits making funds available to them, and Article 16 imposes the reporting obligations. The following articles prohibit public trade finance, transactions in securities, loans, deposits above certain thresholds and the provision of services to central securities depositories. They also cover transactions with the Russian central bank and with state-owned enterprises, transactions with listed banks and the use of specialized financial messaging services. Articles 28b to 28g ban services to the energy and mining sector, to Russian public bodies and to trusts, as well as a long list of business services, software and influence over critical infrastructure. The fourth section contains entry bans and other restrictions, including the prohibition on satisfying certain claims (Art. 30). After sections on exemptions for divestment, the Caspian Pipeline Consortium, maritime safety, damages and investor–state disputes, the fifth section regulates enforcement and the criminal provisions (Art. 31–32).³

Notes

1. Année politique suisse / politchronik.swiss, "Die Schweiz übernimmt die EU-Sanktionen gegen Russland" (process 64361), https://politchronik.swiss/de/prozesse/64361-die-schweiz-ubernimmt-die-eu-sanktionen-gegen-russland.pdf (total revision of 4 March 2022). ↩
2. Ordinance of 4 March 2022 on Measures in connection with the Situation in Ukraine (Ukraine Ordinance), SR 946.231.176.72, table of contents as at 25 December 2024, reproduced at https://lexaris.de/library/tableofcontents/10519685. ↩
3. Ukraine Ordinance, Art. 15–36, table of contents (above); Art. 15 para. 1 lit. a (persons, companies and organizations "nach Anhang 8"), https://www.droit-bilingue.ch/de-fr/9/94/946.231.176.72-15-29.html. ↩

For general information only. This article does not constitute legal or tax advice, does not replace advice on an individual case and creates no lawyer-client relationship. It reflects the legal position as of August 2025.