Russian central bank files second claim to EU court over frozen assets

MOSCOW, May 25 (Reuters) - The Russian central bank said on Monday it had filed a second claim with the General Court of the European Union, challenging the EU regulation that allows the use of Russia's frozen sovereign assets to repay the EU's loan to Ukraine.

"The EU's framework challenged by the Bank of Russia treats its sovereign assets as an element of financial support for a third country, altering the legal and economic regime of sovereign assets," the central bank said.

The regulation, dated February 24, 2026, said the EU's loan to Ukraine should be repaid only when Ukraine receives reparations from Russia for its invasion in 2022, while the EU should reserve the right to use Russia's frozen assets to repay Ukraine's debt.

The Russian 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.

Last March, the central bank challenged a move in December 2025 to freeze its assets in Europe indefinitely, arguing that the freeze was introduced with "serious procedural violations." The claim was also filed with the EU's General Court. On May 15, a court in Moscow upheld the ?Russian central bank's claim to recover damages from Euroclear related ?to the freezing of assets worth 18.17 trillion roubles ($253.77 billion).

($1 = 71.6000 roubles) (Reporting by Moscow bureau; Writing by Gleb Bryanski; Editing by Rod Nickel)