ZURICH, (Reuters) – The chairman of the Swiss National Bank (SNB), said that the Bank has sold large amounts of Russia-related assets. This means there is very little risk for Swiss banks from the Ukrainian war.

“We only had small assets in Russia. “In the interim, we could probably sell most of these assets so that Russia-related assets exposure is very close to zero,” Thomas Jordan said to reporters following the decision by the central bank to hold rates.

He said that the Russian invasion in Ukraine did not pose any threat to Switzerland’s financial system.

Jordan stated that “the exposure of the Swiss banking sector to Russia was rather limited, so the war itself only has a limited effect on banks and financial institutions in Switzerland.”

A complete global economic collapse could result in a significant negative effect for Switzerland. But, so far, it has been “very little, very minimal”.

Jordan claimed that SNB didn’t have any business relationships with Russian central banks and had not held rouble reserves.

In answer to a query, he stated that he believed the main responsibility would be shared by the commercial banks if it was necessary to give roubles for the economy.

Russian President Vladimir Putin declared Wednesday that Russia as the world’s biggest producer would soon be required to have gas purchased in Russia’s currency the rouble.