The Brussels-based financial institution Euroclear has filed a lawsuit against the Russian Central Bank at the Brussels Enterprise Court, L’Echo reports. The preliminary hearing took place last Thursday.
A court in Moscow sentenced Euroclear on 15 May to pay approximately €220 billion in damages. The institution holds around €200 billion of Russian funds, which have been blocked due to sanctions imposed by the European Union following the invasion of Ukraine.
However, Euroclear contends that the Moscow court was not authorised to rule on the case. In L’Echo, a Euroclear lawyer describes the process, held behind closed doors, as “unfair” and a “sham trial”.
Euroclear’s position is that only a Belgian court has jurisdiction to handle the case. Its lawyers say the claim is inadmissible.
At a summit in December, EU leaders agreed to grant Ukraine a loan of €90 billion to finance the war against Russia over the next two years. The agreement is an alternative to using the assets mainly held at Euroclear to fund Ukraine’s war effort. The EU reserves the right to use the assets to repay the loan.
