Russian central bank challenges asset freeze in EU court

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)