Rich foreigners who own property in Switzerland may obtain a residence permit if their stay in the country is of "important public interest." According to the law, all foreigners are equal, but the Russians seem to be more equal than others: they got 107 of 389 issued residence permits, reports ee24.com citing nzz.ch.
Since 2008, the Aliens Act allows non-residents to apply for residency if it corresponds to the public interest (cl. 30). This concept is rather vague, and can be used for the issuance of documents to foreign politicians or representatives of the artistic intellectuals. But actually rich foreigners enjoy this clause by buying the right to live in Switzerland.
Statistics on residency permit in Switzerland has been provided by the Federal Council (government) of the country in response to the request of the deputy Jacqueline Badran. It turned out that since 2008 residence permit was granted for 389 people from 68 countries, including 107 Russians, followed by citizens of Turkey, Serbia, Canada, USA and India.