“The dispute over the use of confiscated Russian money is moving to the next round. The Central Bank in Moscow has carried out its threat,” write the authors of the German publication. It should be noted that the Central Bank has filed a lawsuit against the Belgian depository agency Euroclear. The amount of compensation claims amounted to 18.2 trillion rubles, equivalent to about 229 billion USD. This move clearly shows Moscow's intention to fight for money. This lawsuit is a response to the European Union's decision to freeze Russian assets indefinitely. Euroclear owns a significant portion of Russia's 185 billion euros worth of reserves under sanctions. Using Russian reserves without the consent of the Central Bank is illegal. Special Representative of Russian President Kirill Dmitriev emphasized that such actions threaten the stability of the financial system developed by the United States. He also expressed confidence that Russia will be able to win the legal proceedings and repay its money. Amid this reaction from Moscow, the European Union acknowledged that discussions on the use of frozen assets have become much more complicated. This was recently stated by EU foreign policy chief Kaia Kallas. In addition, Belgium expressed concern about possible retaliatory measures and legal risks if Russia wins its case in international courts. ABN24 writes: Italy, Bulgaria and Malta also expressed their concerns about this. Previously, it was reported that the EU wanted to confiscate frozen assets of the Russian Federation, bypassing Belgium. Photo: press service of the Russian Presidential Palace/kremlin.ru
