The Central Bank of the Russian Federation has filed a lawsuit with the EU's highest court regarding its frozen assets – Reuters
The Central Bank of the Russian Federation has filed a lawsuit with the General Court of the European Union, challenging the EU regulation adopted in July as part of the 21st sanctions package. The challenge concerns a provision that allows EU courts and member states to refuse to recognize or enforce decisions by Russian courts. According to the regulator, these measures constitute interference in its legal dispute with the Belgian depository Euroclear regarding the freezing of Russian assets in Europe.
Earlier, the Central Bank of the Russian Federation filed a lawsuit in Moscow seeking to recover 18.2 billion rubles ($215.33 million) from Euroclear, a claim that Russian courts upheld. In response, Euroclear appealed to a Belgian civil court to block the enforcement of this ruling.
The Russian regulator believes that EU regulations prevent it from seeking the seizure of Euroclear’s assets in third countries, and noted: “These measures impose disproportionate restrictions on the protection of the Bank of Russia’s rights outside the EU, in particular the imposition of financial sanctions for violations of relevant court injunctions.”
This was reported by Reuters.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stated that Moscow will allegedly be able to secure the return of its gold and foreign exchange reserves frozen in the European Union. These are assets of the Central Bank of Russia that are currently blocked at the Belgian depository Euroclear.
As a reminder, Belgium has categorically refused to transfer Russia’s frozen assets to Ukraine.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sibiga expressed his gratitude to the foreign ministers of Sweden, Poland, the Netherlands, and Spain for their joint initiative. This refers to a letter to the European Commission calling for the use of frozen Russian assets for the benefit of Ukraine.
