Russia holds hearing in $232bn case over frozen assets in EU

MOSCOW: A Moscow court Friday held a preliminary hearing in a lawsuit brought by the Russian central bank against Belgian financial group Euroclear over the fate of Russia’s blocked assets in Europe.

The EU froze tens of billions of euros of Russia’s international reserves after the Kremlin launched its full-scale offensive on Ukraine almost four years ago, part of sweeping sanctions aimed at hindering Moscow’s war machine.  

In a preliminary hearing in the case on Friday, Judge Anna Petrukhina ruled that the proceedings would be held behind closed doors, at the request of the bank, which sought to “protect banking secrecy”, AFP journalists reported from the Moscow Arbitration Court.

The lawsuit was filed in December as the European Union was debating using the frozen Russian funds to offer a financial lifeline to Ukraine – but the bloc failed to approve the scheme, ultimately opting for a loan backed by its common budget instead.

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Russian President Vladimir Putin said last month that to follow through with the EU plan to seize Moscow’s assets to help Ukraine would have been “robbery” and warned that “the consequences could be severe for the robbers”.

Filing the case, the central bank said Euroclear had acted illegally in freezing the assets.

It is seeking around $232 billion, a sum it says covers the assets and compensation for lost returns.

It was unclear what the implications of any Russian-based legal claim would be.

Lawyers representing Euroclear were present in court, an AFP reporter saw, but declined to comment on the case.

A spokesman for the clearing house noted in December that Euroclear was “fighting more than 100 legal claims in Russia”.