Finance
Russian Central Bank Challenges Asset Freeze in EU Court
Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on March 3, 2026
2 min readLast updated: April 2, 2026
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Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on March 3, 2026
2 min readLast updated: April 2, 2026
Add as preferred source on GoogleRussia’s central bank has lodged a legal challenge at the EU’s General Court in Luxembourg against the European Commission’s December 12, 2025 regulation indefinitely freezing around €210 billion ($300 billion) of its sovereign assets held largely at Euroclear, alleging procedural flaws and violatio
MOSCOW, March 3 (Reuters) - Russia's central bank said on Tuesday that it had submitted a claim to the Luxembourg-based General Court of the European Union, challenging a move made in December 2025 to freeze its assets in Europe indefinitely.
The central bank estimates that about $300 billion of Russia's sovereign funds have been frozen by Western countries. Most of these assets are frozen in Europe and are held at the Belgian depository Euroclear.
The central bank filed a lawsuit in Moscow last December, seeking $230 billion in damages from Euroclear in response to the indefinite freeze and to proposals to confiscate the assets to fund Ukraine, which have not materialised.
In its statement, the central bank said the freeze was introduced with "serious procedural violations" because it was adopted by majority vote rather than unanimously, as required by EU law.
A source close to the central bank said the alleged violations were the focus of the claim.
The EU document on the freeze, published on December 12, rules out any possibility of legal action by Russia over the decision in EU courts.
"The EU regulation violates the basic and inalienable rights of access to justice and inviolability of property, as well as the principle of sovereign immunity of states and their central banks, guaranteed by international treaties and EU law," the central bank said.
(Reporting by Elena Fabrichnaya; Writing by Gleb Bryanski; Editing by Alison Williams)
Russia's central bank claims the freeze involved serious procedural violations and infringes on sovereign immunity and access to justice.
About $300 billion of Russia's sovereign funds have been frozen, with most held in Europe at Euroclear.
The bank filed a claim with the EU General Court in Luxembourg, challenging the asset freeze and seeking damages from Euroclear in Moscow.
The EU document rules out the possibility of legal action by Russia in EU courts regarding the asset freeze decision.
The central bank argues that the freeze violated EU law by lacking unanimity and broke international principles of sovereign immunity and property rights.
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