CBR challenges regulation blocking its assets in EU court
MOSCOW. March 3 (Interfax) - The Central Bank of Russia (CBR) filed a challenge in the General Court of the European Union on February 27 against the December 2025 EU Council regulation that imposed an indefinite freeze on its assets, the CBR said in a statement on its website.
The claim was filed under Article 263 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU "as part of the ongoing efforts to challenge the European Union's unlawful actions against the Bank of Russia's sovereign assets," the CBR said.
The disputed EU regulation indefinitely blocks CBR assets and also excludes the possibility of judicial protection of the infringed rights to the assets, including through the enforcement of any court decisions or arbitration rulings.
"As a result, the EU Regulation violates the basic and inalienable rights to access justice, inviolability of property, and the principle of sovereign immunity of States and their central banks, guaranteed by international treaties and European Union law, which contradicts the fundamentals of the rule of law and cannot be regarded as compatible with the principle of supremacy of law," the CBR said.
Furthermore, when the EU Council approved the regulation it "committed serious procedural violations, since, in particular, the EU Regulation was adopted not by unanimity of the European Union Member States but by a majority vote, bypassing the requirements of Article 215 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union," the CBR said.
The CBR said that it "reserves all rights, claims, objections and remedies available to it in connection with the EU Regulation and any other measures taken by the European Union and/or its member States in relation to the Bank of Russia or its assets."
In the middle of December 2025, the CBR for the first time commented in detail on its possible actions in response to EU plans to seize its frozen assets, saying it is prepared to use all available means of legal protection without giving prior notice.
On December 12, the CBR filed a lawsuit against Euroclear in the Moscow Arbitration Court seeking 200.1 billion euros (18.2 trillion rubles) in compensation for losses incurred due to the Belgian depository's "illegal actions," as well as officially announced European Commission plans to indefinitely freeze CBR assets and use them for the benefit of third parties.
The CBR later said that it would pursue claims in Russian arbitration court to collect losses caused by the illegal freezing and use of its assets from European banks in the amount of the illegally withheld assets and lost profits.
The Central Bank has declined to comment on further steps to challenge the measures to freeze its assets. "Work to challenge the unlawful actions of the European Union and specific financial institutions illegally holding the Bank of Russia's assets continues. We are conducting this systematically, using all available legal mechanisms under both public and private law. However, we will not announce specific further steps at this time," the Central Bank's press service said.
The CBR has repeatedly said that it is prepared to dispute the freezing of Russia's international reserves.
"Legally we have almost everything ready. We're having difficulties with organizing work with lawyers who can defend our interests in foreign courts, because there are restrictions on this," Central Bank Governor Elvira Nabiullina said in the summer of 2023. Prior to this, CBR Deputy Governor Alexei Guznov said that there would probably be multiple lawsuits, not just one, because there are different jurisdictions, and this "matter is really being studied."
The EU, the United States and a number of other countries froze Russia's international reserves in the spring of 2022 in response to its military operation in Ukraine. The sanctions deprived Russia of access to about $300 billion in reserves. After this, Nabiullina said that lawsuits were being prepared in response to this.
