Switzerland and Ukraine

Switzerland

1. Recognition of Ukraine: December 23, 1991.

2. Establishment of diplomatic relations: February 6, 1992.

3. Political relations:

Contacts of the President of Ukraine:

On January 10, 2023, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy had a telephone conversation with President of Switzerland Ignazio Cassis.

On February 26, 2023, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy had a telephone conversation with President of Switzerland Ignazio Cassis.

On April 30, 2023, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy had a telephone conversation with President of Switzerland Ignazio Cassis.

On October 19-21, 2022, President of Switzerland Ignazio Cassis paid an official visit to Ukraine.

On January 17-18, 2023, First Lady of Ukraine Olena Zelenska met with President of Switzerland Alain Berset and Head of the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs Ignazio Cassis on the sidelines of the 53-rd WEF Annual Meeting in Davos.

On March 2, 2023, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy had a telephone conversation with President of Switzerland Alain Berset.

On June 1, 2023, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy met President of Switzerland Alain Berset on the sidelines of the European Political Community Summit in Chisinau.

Contacts of the Prime Minister of Ukraine:

On March 10, 2022, Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal had a telephone conversation with President of Switzerland Ignazio Cassis.

On April 12, 2022, Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal had a telephone conversation with President of Switzerland Ignazio Cassis.

On June 29, 2022, Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal had a telephone conversation with President of Switzerland Ignazio Cassis.

On July 4-5, 2022, Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal paid a working visit to Switzerland to participate in Ukraine Recovery Conference in Lugano.

On August 19, 2022, Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal had a telephone conversation with President of Switzerland Ignazio Cassis.

On October 20, 2022, Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal met President of Switzerland Ignazio Cassis during his official visit to Ukraine.

On January 19, 2023, Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal met online Head of the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs Ignazio Cassis on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos.

On April 12, 2023, Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal met Head of the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs Ignazio Cassis on the sidelines of the World Bank spring ministerial meeting in Washington D.C.

Contacts of the Chairperson of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine:

On April 26-28, 2022, President of the National Council of the Swiss Federal Assembly Irène Kälin together with Speaker of Sobranie of the Republic of North Macedonia Talat Xhaferi and Speaker of the Senate of the Parliament of Romania Florin Cîțu paid a visit of solidarity to Ukraine.

On July 4-5, 2022, Chairperson of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Ruslan Stefanchuk paid a working visit to Switzerland to participate in Ukraine Recovery Conference in Lugano.

On October 25, 2022, Chairperson of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Ruslan Stefanchuk had a meeting with President of the National Council of the Swiss Federal Assembly Irène Kälin on the sidelines of the First parliamentary summit of the International Crimea Platform in Zagreb, Croatia.

Contacts of the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Ukraine contacts:

On May 24, 2022, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba met President of Switzerland on the sidelines of the 51-st World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos.

4. Treaty legal basis.

39 bilateral legal documents are in force. Key documents are:

Agreement between Ukraine and the Swiss Confederation on the Promotion and Mutual Protection of Investments and the Protocol in particular agreements on promotion and reciprocal protection of investments (April 20, 1995);

Agreement between Ukraine and the Swiss Confederation on Trade and Economic Cooperation (July 20, 1995);

Agreement between the Government of Ukraine and the Government of the Swiss Confederation on Technical and Financial Cooperation (October 13, 1997);

Convention between the Government of Ukraine and the Swiss Federal Council for the Avoidance of Double Taxation with Respect to Taxes on Income and on Capital and the Protocol (October 30, 2000);

Agreement between the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine and the Swiss Federal Council on the Mutual Waiver of Visa Requirements for Holders of Diplomatic, Service and Special Passports (July 11, 2003);

Free Trade Agreement between Ukraine and the EFTA Countries (June 24, 2010);

Agreement between Ukraine and the Swiss Confederation on the Readmission of Persons (June 7, 2017);

Agreement between the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine and the Swiss Federal Council on the Facilitation of Visa Processing (June 7, 2017).

5. Ukraine-Switzerland: Trade and Economic Cooperation

Switzerland is one of Ukraine’s leading trade partners.

According to the results of 2021, Switzerland took 7th place in the volume of bilateral trade in goods between Ukraine and European countries with a specific weight of 4.26% of the total volume of trade.

The volume of bilateral trade in goods in 2021 amounted to 2,674.4 million dollars. USA. Export – 177.6 million dollars. USA, import – 2496.8 million dollars. USA.

In 2021, the volume of bilateral trade in services amounted to 1,469.3 million dollars. USA, export – 1189.7 million dollars. USA, import – 279.6 million dollars. USA. Positive balance – 910.1 million dollars. USA.

The pandemic factor and russia’s full-scale aggression against Ukraine affected the dynamics and parameters of bilateral economic relations.

Thus, according to the results of 2022, Switzerland took 15th place in terms of the volume of bilateral trade in goods between Ukraine and European countries with a specific weight of 2.2% of the total volume of trade.

In 2022, the volume of trade in goods and services between Ukraine and Switzerland decreased by 47.8% compared to 2021. Export volumes of Ukrainian goods and services to Switzerland decreased by 14.5%, import volumes decreased by 57.7%.

According to the results of 2022, the turnover between Ukraine and Switzerland amounted to 1 billion 138.6 million dollars. USA, which is 57.4% less than the volume of trade in goods for 2021. Export volumes of Ukrainian goods to Switzerland decreased by 28.2%, import volumes decreased by 59.5%.

According to the results of 2022, in the structure of the export of Ukrainian goods to Switzerland, the volume of deliveries increased the most:

fats and oils of animal or vegetable origin – a fifth of exports (volumes increased by 5.9 times);

grain crops – 17.1% of exports (volumes increased by 4.3 times);

ferrous metal products – 5.9% (+15.6%);

furniture – 5.7% (+ 29.2%).

According to the results of 2022, the import volume decreased the most:

mineral fuel, oil and products of its distillation – 67.4% of imports (-64.3%);

pharmaceutical products – 5.1% of imports (-33.7%);

plastics, polymer materials – 3.9% (-23.4%);

natural or cultured pearls, precious or semi-precious stones – 3.5% (-71.2%).

According to the results of 2022, the volume of trade in services between Ukraine and Switzerland decreased by 40.5% compared to 2021.

The volume of export of Ukrainian services to Switzerland fell less than the volume of import. The balance in trade in services is positive and amounts to 550.5 million US dollars. 

As of the end of 2021, Swiss investments in the economy of Ukraine reached 4,003.3 million dollars. USA, which is 8.7% of the total volume of direct foreign investments involved in the country’s economy. In terms of investment volume, Switzerland is one of the five largest foreign investors. It is worth to note that the largest volume of Swiss investments went to the industry of Ukraine and amounted to 3,352.4 million dollars. USA, which is 83.7% of the total volume of investments.

The total volume of investments from Ukraine to Switzerland remained insignificant and as of 12/31/2021 amounted to 6.9 million USD, or approximately 0.3% of the total volume of Ukrainian investments in world economies.

World-famous Swiss companies continue to work in Ukraine and plan to make further investments.

The 14th meeting of the Ukrainian-Swiss Joint Committee on Trade and Economic Cooperation will take place in Bern (2023).

6. Cultural and humanitarian cooperation

In Switzerland, cultural and artistic events are regularly held with the participation of Ukrainian cultural figures, in particular, concert tours of famous art groups, art and photo exhibitions of Ukrainian artists, and performances of Ukrainian musicians at prestigious international competitions. Representatives of domestic cinema participate in various Swiss film festivals. Ukrainian writers hold creative evenings for the local public, and artists hold exhibitions of their works. The Ukrainian theme is increasingly heard in the cultural environment of Switzerland.

In particular, in January 2023, the opening of the Ukrainian-Swiss Days of Culture in Ticino took place in Lugano. During two weeks, more than 120 exhibits of Ukrainian and Swiss works were presented at the exhibition. The Lviv Philharmonic, the Swiss Academy of Music, the Lugano Jazz Quartet, provided musical accompaniment the bands “Trembita of Ukraine” and “Roots of Switzerland”.

In support of Ukraine, charity concerts and evenings are held with the participation of Ukrainian and Swiss talents, in particular, concerts of the ensemble of P. Virskyi, O. Botvinov, the band Druga Rika, the band Dakhabrakha, as well as various sports competitions of the national teams of Ukraine.

The Ukrainian film “Save Me” directed by M. Dubrovina took part in the selection of the Global Road Safety Film Festival in Geneva and won the Grand Prix (February 2022). The beginning of full-scale Russian aggression against Ukraine prevented the director from receiving the award, so they had the opportunity to congratulate M. Dubrovina and her team with an award at the Embassy of Ukraine only a year later.

On February 24, 2023, to the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, the population of all cantons of Switzerland held events of memory and solidarity. In the cities of Bern, Zurich, Winterthur, Basel, Lenzburg, Geneva, Lausanne, Luzerne, Fribourg, and others, solidarity marches, demonstrations, charity concerts, unfurling of the Ukrainian flag, lighting of memorial candles took place. The Embassy of Ukraine and representatives of “Bereznitsky Art Foundation” opened the photo exhibition “Ukrainian Guernica” in Bern. Representatives of the government, parliament, federal and local authorities, the diplomatic corps, business, the educational and scientific community, and the media attended the opening.

From April 18 to 21, a creative tour of S. Zhadan took place in the cities of Switzerland. The writer’s literary evenings took place in Basel, Luzerne, Zurich and Lenzburg.

On April 26-27, a two-day cultural conference “Revival of culture – part of the reconstruction of Ukraine” was held in Bern, dedicated to Ukrainian cultural heritage and art. The event brought together representatives of the cultural sphere of our country, Switzerland, EU countries and international organizations. The Minister of the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine, O.Tkachenko, sent a message to help strengthen our cultural front and preserve our heritage. Odesa cultural institutions, in particular, the Odesa National Academic Theater of Opera and Ballet, the Municipal Theater, the Museum of Modern Art and many others, presented their projects here.

At the Bern Conservatory, the Legato Bern-Odesa union, which supports young musical talents from Ukraine, continues its long-term activities.

7. Scientific and technical cooperation

Ukrainian-Swiss cooperation in the field of science and education develops both within the framework of bilateral and multilateral projects, and at the level of direct contacts between scientific and educational institutions.

In 2016, Ukraine became an associate member of the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN), whose headquarters are in Geneva. The specified status allows our country to participate in all forms of scientific cooperation that are possible for full members.

In 2017, the University of Basel launched the initiative “Ukrainian Research in Switzerland – URIS”, which is implemented with the financial support of the State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation of Switzerland. The goal of the initiative is the development of Ukrainian studies in Switzerland, encouragement and support of young scientists, assistance in building a network of university scientific research on Ukraine.

In 2018, agreements on the terms of cooperation and joint recognition of diplomas were signed between the private educational institutions Geneva Business School, two Ukrainian higher educational institutions – Kyiv National University named after T. Shevchenko, and Kharkiv National University named after V. Karazina.

In 2023, the Bern University of Applied Sciences developed a practical course aimed at Ukrainian women to obtain the necessary qualifications for the construction sector and Ukrainians living in Switzerland for a certain period. The training lasted from February to June 2023. The program will allow citizens of Ukraine who fled the atrocities of Russian aggression to gain advanced knowledge and modern practical skills to contribute to the future recovery and reconstruction of their native country. The next course will start in October 2023.

As part of the national multi-subject testing 2023 (NMT), the University of Bern will create conditions for Ukrainian graduates to conduct testing.

8. Ukrainian community

As of June 2023, according to official data, 65,000 citizens of Ukraine in Switzerland received temporary protection status S. Ukrainians live evenly in all cantons of Switzerland.

The registered public organization of Ukrainians is the Ukrainian Society in Switzerland; local branches of Ukrainians operate in various cities, in particular in Zurich, Basel, Bern, Lausanne, Geneva, St.Gallen, Chur, Lugano, and Zug. The Ukrainian Society of Central and Eastern Switzerland and Authentika Ukrainian Society in Switzerland are registered on the territory of Switzerland.

On February 24, 2023, numerous actions and solidarity marches in support of Ukraine were held in the cities of Switzerland. On March 4, 2023, a solidarity action in support of Ukraine was held in Bern with the support of deputies of the Friendship Group of the Swiss Parliament, and on March 25 in Lausanne, a protest action “Say NO to “neutral” athletes from Russia and Belarus at the 2024 Olympics.”

On May 8, 2023, on the Day of Remembrance, Ukrainians in Bern, Zurich and Geneva commemorated everyone who fought against Nazism and all victims of World War II.

9. Diplomatic Mission of Ukraine: Embassy of Ukraine in the Swiss Confederation and the Principality of Liechtenstein.