Bank of Russia contests EU regulation which construes Bank of Russia’s sovereign assets as element of financial support for third country

On 22 May 2026, the Bank of Russia filed a claim to the General Court of the European Union (based in Luxembourg) to challenge Regulation No. 2026/467 of the European Parliament and the Council, dated 24 February 2026.

The claim is to contest the legal and financial framework established by the above EU regulation to provide support to Ukraine in 2026–2027 insofar as the regulation stipulates that the EU reserves an alleged right to make use of the Bank of Russia’s immobilised assets to repay the loan granted by the EU to Ukraine. This constitutes an illegal and concealed form of the use of assets as loan collateral and/or further legalisation of the expropriation of sovereign assets.

In terms of its content and legal consequences, the EU regulation contested by the Bank of Russia is beyond the scope of ordinary measures of financial and economic cooperation with a third country. 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, and thus violates the legal rules of the EU and the fundamental rights and applicable principles of international law, including the sovereign immunity of states and their central banks.

The claim was filed pursuant to Article 263 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union as part of the ongoing efforts to protect the Bank of Russia’s rights and legal interests against the EU’s unlawful actions in relation to the Bank of Russia’s assets. The Bank of Russia reserves all rights, claims, counterclaims, and defences in all jurisdictions available to it to contest any illicit measures taken by the EU or any member state of the EU in relation to the Bank of Russia or its assets.

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25.05.2026 12.33.00