Russian court considers central bank's $232B lawsuit against Euroclear over seized assets

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MOSCOW (AP) — A court in Moscow on Friday began considering a lawsuit filed by the central bank against Euroclear, the Brussels-based clearing house that holds the bulk of Russian assets frozen by the European Union.

The lawsuit seeks to recover 18.2 trillion rubles ($232 billion) in damages incurred when Russia was barred from managing and disposing of its Euroclear funds and securities, the bank said. The case is being heard behind closed doors.

The EU has frozen 210 billion euros ($244 billion) worth of Russian assets as part of the sanctions imposed on Moscow after it sent troops into Ukraine in February 2022. Euroclear holds around 193 billion euros of the seized funds.

Moscow's Arbitration Court picked up the case even though the EU last month set aside its initial plan to use frozen Russian assets to assist Ukraine after failing to convince Belgium that it would be protected from Russia's retaliation. The bloc opted instead for borrowing 90 billion euros on capital markers to provide an interest-free loan to Ukraine to meet its military and economic needs for the next two years.

Russia's Central Bank has condemned the use of frozen assets to aid Ukraine as “illegal, contrary to international law,” arguing that they violated “the principles of sovereign immunity of assets.”