Russia loses EU case on unblocking €70 billion remaining under sanctions

The EU Court has refused to lift sanctions from the Russian National Settlement Depository (NSD), with the amount of its frozen assets nearing €70 billion.

Source: Bloomberg, citing the court's decision

The European Court rejected the appeal from the Russian depository regarding the annulment of EU sanctions imposed in 2022. The NSD's assets, frozen in the Belgian depository Euroclear, amount to approximately €70 billion.

These assets are not used to generate excess profits, which are transferred to Ukraine as financial support.

The total amount of frozen Russian assets in Euroclear, including those of the Bank of Russia, is estimated at €173 billion. The exact portion associated with the NSD was not commented on by Euroclear representatives.

Sanctions were imposed due to the NSD's role in financing Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

The court said the NSD failed to prove that the EU mistakenly considers it a systemically important institution playing a significant role in the Russian financial system.

It is noted that the decision may be appealed to a higher court.

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