Russian court orders seizure of $260m Deutsche Bank assets
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Deutsche Bank (DB) is one of the guarantor lenders in a contract for a gas processing plant in Russia with Germany's Linde, which was broken due to sanctions by Europe and the US.
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The Deutsche Bank logo is displayed at a bank's building in Frankfurt, Germany, April 9, 2018. (AP)
Court documents revealed that Germany's Deutsche Bank's assets, accounts, property, and shares have been ordered to be seized in Russia by a Russian court as part of a lawsuit.
Deutsche Bank (DB) was one of the guarantor lenders in a contract for a gas processing plant in Russia with Germany's Linde, which was broken due to sanctions by Europe and the US.
St Petersburg-based RusChemAlliance, a joint-venture 50% owned by Russian gas giant Gazprom and the main project operator, filed the lawsuit.
The St Petersburg court has banned DB from exercising 100% interest in the authorized capital of its Russian subsidiary, as well as Deutsche Bank Technology Center LLC.
The court ordered the seizure of up to 238.6 million euros ($259.36 million) in DB's securities, real estate, and bank accounts, alongside DB's Russian subsidiary and Deutsche Bank Technology Center.
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DB was one of the banks that opted to remain in business on Russian land when the war in Ukraine first started back in 2022, contrary to other banks and institutions that closed their operations due to sanctions.
EU seized Russian assets, funneling proceeds to Ukraine
This comes amid Western plans to seize frozen Russian assets and funnel them to Ukraine for 'reparations'.
Just 10 days ago, the EU agreed on the expropriation of revenue generated from frozen Russian assets to proceed with funding and arming Kiev, Brussels announced. The bloc's ambassadors agreed on the course of actions "in principle", however, the legal text still needs to be ratified by the EU Council.
The Belgian presidency said on X on May 7 that "EU ambassadors agreed in principle on measures concerning extraordinary revenues stemming from Russia’s immobilized assets."
🇺🇦 EU ambassadors agreed in principle on measures concerning extraordinary revenues stemming from Russia’s immobilised assets.
— Belgian Presidency of the Council of the EU 2024 (@EU2024BE) May 8, 2024
👉 The money will serve to support #Ukraine's recovery and military defence in the context of the Russian aggression.
Even days before then, the US was engaged in discussions with allied states to form a coalition aimed at providing substantial financial assistance to Ukraine. This assistance, totaling up to $50 billion, was proposed to be repaid through the windfall profits generated by frozen Russian assets, according to sources familiar with the matter.
Since the start of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, Western states have frozen around $300 billion of Moscow’s sovereign capital abroad.
Read more: Russia to defend its interests if its assets were seized: Kremlin
