MOSCOW (AP) — A Moscow court on Friday began considering a central bank lawsuit against Euroclear, the Brussels-based clearing house that holds most of the Russian assets frozen by the European Union.
The bank said the suit seeks compensation for 18.2 trillion rubles ($232 billion) in losses caused by Russia being barred from managing and disposing of its Euroclear funds and securities. The case is being heard behind closed doors.
After Russia sent troops to Ukraine in February 2022, the EU froze Russian assets worth 210 billion euros ($244 billion) as part of sanctions against Moscow. Euroclear holds approximately €193 billion in seized funds.
The Moscow arbitration court took up the case even though the EU last month shelved initial plans to use frozen Russian assets to aid Ukraine, failing to convince Belgium that it would be protected from Russian retaliation. Instead, the EU chose to borrow €90 billion at a capital mark, providing Ukraine with interest-free loans to meet its military and economic needs over the next two years.
The Russian Central Bank condemned the use of frozen assets to assist Ukraine as “illegal and contrary to international law” and said it violated the “principle of sovereign immunity of assets.”
