A Moscow judge has opened a legal showdown between Russia’s central bank and Euroclear, the Belgian firm sitting on more than €200 billion of Russian money locked up in Europe since the invasion of Ukraine.
The case, heard behind closed doors on Friday, is Moscow’s boldest attempt yet to claw back cash frozen by the European Union as part of its sanctions blitz against the Kremlin nearly four years ago.
Those measures immobilised vast chunks of Russia’s foreign reserves, a move designed to choke the Kremlin’s war chest and limit its ability to fund the conflict.
At the Moscow Arbitration Court, Judge Anna Petrukhina agreed to keep proceedings secret after the central bank argued that public hearings could expose banking secrecy. Lawyers for Euroclear attended but declined to comment.
The lawsuit, filed in December, demands an eye-watering $232 billion (€215 billion), covering both the frozen assets and the profits Russia says it has lost since the funds were blocked.
The timing is no accident. The case comes as EU governments openly debate whether to go further and use Russia’s immobilised wealth to bankroll Ukraine’s reconstruction.
That idea has infuriated the Kremlin.
Russian president Vladimir Putin warned last month that any attempt to seize Russia’s reserves outright would amount to robbery, vowing severe consequences for those involved.
Euroclear, a critical hub in Europe’s financial system, says it is now facing more than 100 lawsuits in Russia as Moscow turns to the courts to strike back.
What a Moscow ruling would mean in practice—or whether it could be enforced outside Russia—remains unclear. But the fight over Russia’s frozen billions is escalating fast.
