The Russian invasion of Ukraine has triggered a humanitarian, geopolitical and economic crisis. As in any conflict, there’s a great deal of uncertainty. What’s already certain, however, is that the economic impact of the crisis is affecting businesses in Switzerland and beyond.
This overview presents some of the crisis-related questions you may be asking and the support we offer in response. Please get in touch with our experts if you’d like to discuss the issues you may be facing.
Customs
Questions that may arise
- What are the restrictions on the import and export of specific goods?
- How will the conflict and the associated sanctions impact our supply chains or our existing and future business relationships?
Services
Our customs team can help you address any import- and export-related issues you may be confronted with as a result of the conflict.
Forensic services
Questions that may arise
- Do we have a functioning crisis, risk and business continuity management system in place?
- What adjustments might we have to make?
Services
Our forensic services team can help you proof your organisation against crisis.
Your expert
Partner and Forensic Services and Financial Crime Leader, Zurich, PwC Switzerland
+41 58 792 17 60
Industrial manufacturing
Questions that may arise
- What are the short and long-term recommendations for manufacturers and suppliers?
- How can European economies and companies re-evaluate their efficiency- and on-demand-driven way of doing business and move towards resilience and sustainability?
Services
Our industrial manufacturing team can help you identify and address weaknesses in global supply chains revealed by the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Cybersecurity
Questions that may arise
- Do we have an incident response (IR) playbook? Have we done exercises to test it? When was the last time we tested our IR plan? Have we discussed actions in the event that hostilities begin? What are these actions?
- How sophisticated are our threat detection capabilities? Are we able to detect intrusions in real time? How well do we monitor the cross-over from our IT systems to the tech that runs our operations?
- How good are our foundational cybersecurity capabilities? What’s the state of our organisation’s cyber hygiene?
Services
Our cybersecurity team can help you see whether you’re ready to mitigate cyber risks related to geopolitical tensions that might flare up in 2022, review your cyber resilience, and help you identify and remedy any weaknesses.
Your expert
Regulatory Radar
Questions that may arise
- What temporary measures have been introduced by financial market regulators?
- How do regulatory changes affect us?
- How can we keep up with all the regulatory changes while focusing on successfully navigating through the crisis?
- What is the regulatory impact of the crisis on financial markets worldwide?
- How are regulators reacting globally?
Services
Our Regulatory Radar helps you keep up with and navigate the rapidly changing regulatory response to the conflict in a range of countries around the world.
Your expert
Workforce
Questions that may arise
- How can we support the workforce directly affected by the conflict while also shifting production capacity to other Central and Eastern European countries or near-shoring?
Services
Our workforce experts can help you protect your people while keeping your business operating successfully.
Tax reporting
Questions that may arise
- Are there any sanctions against paying tax in Russia that affect us as an organisation with operations there?
- How do we approach foreign tax reclaims from Russia?
Services
Our tax reporting team can help you work out where you stand and address the complexities arising from the conflict.
Corporate tax
Questions that may arise
- What’s the impact for organisations operating in Russia and Ukraine of Russian employees relocating to other jurisdictions?
- Are there any related permanent establishment issues we should be aware of, particularly for individuals undertaking certain roles or holding senior positions?
Services
Our corporate tax experts are there to give you assurance and help you identify and address any issues.
Emergency cash tax points for Swiss companies and groups
Questions that may arise
- How can the tax function contribute to increasing our liquidity in these unprecedented times?
- How can we minimise cash tax expenses and maximise refunds?
- How can we delay cash tax payments and accelerate refunds?
Services
Our experts can help you protect your global cash tax position and support the overall liquidity management of your group or company.
Your expert
Armin Marti
Financial resilience
Questions that may arise
- Given our significant Russian/Ukrainian operations, what’s the impact on trading?
- Will sanctions affect our ability to access cash (especially if we borrow in GDP, EUR or USD) and other assets in Russia or our relationships with customers, suppliers and financing providers?
- What will the impact of further inflationary pressures be (for example from increased energy prices)?
- What are the threats to the supply chain that could affect our ability to operate?
- What are the broader effects on financial markets (for example high-yield bond issuance) and raising finance?
Services
Our specialists can help you address issues that may impact your financial resilience in the short and longer term, and in particular your liquidity position and ability to comply with financial covenants.
Your experts
Financial reporting and accounting
Questions that may arise
- What’s the impact of the current developments on our company’s financial statements?
Services
Our accounting consulting services team helps you understand the financial reporting issues in its blog on the accounting implications of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.