Switzerland spends over 3 bln francs on supporting Ukraine - ambassador

MOSCOW. Oct 11 (Interfax) - Switzerland has spent around 470 million Swiss francs on supporting Ukraine, in addition to 2.5 billion francs on supporting Ukrainian refugees over the past 2.5 years, Swiss Ambassador to Ukraine and Moldova Felix Baumann said in an interview with Ukrainian media.

"In the past 2.5 years, we have spent around 470 million Swiss francs on supporting Ukraine and people living there. Additional funds were assigned to support Ukrainian refugees in Switzerland. The allocations totaled more than 3 billion Swiss francs," Baumann said.

About 66,000 Ukrainian refugees are staying in Switzerland, as temporary protection of Ukrainian refugees has been extended until March 4, 2026, he said.

"The number of Ukrainian refugees has been stable in recent year. About 25% of them have jobs. The government hopes to increase the share to 40%," Baumann said.

In his words, there are three main impediments to the job search and employment of Ukrainian refugees in Switzerland.

"Firstly, Ukrainian education certificates are not recognized in Switzerland. The second problem is that they do not speak state languages of Switzerland. The third and, probably, most important one is that potential Swiss employers and Ukrainian refugees looking for a job do not know each other," Baumann said.

A short time ago, the Swiss government appointed a special representative for Ukraine's recovery, he said.

"We appointed a special representative or a delegate of the Swiss government for Ukraine's recovery. This is a special position of a high level. He will start working in January next year," Baumann said.

He also said he was hoping for the Swiss Parliament's approval of the disbursement of 1.5 billion Swiss francs ($1.7 billion) for Ukraine's recovery within the next four years (2025-2028).

The Swiss government has expressed the intention to allot 5 billion Swiss francs within the next 12 years for restoring Ukraine's infrastructure, Baumann said.

Swiss gives much attention to the digital transformation of Ukraine, so the Swiss Federal Council has recently approved the allocation of 58.7 million Swiss francs for the digitalization of Ukraine through EGAP until 2028, he said.