There have been several attempts to access Russian funds frozen in Belgium via a 1989 treaty between Belgium, Luxembourg and the USSR, according to French-speaking Greens MP Samuel Cogolati (Écolo).
The three countries signed the treaty in February 1989 as a way to protect and encourage each other's foreign financial investments.
The agreement – never renounced despite the dissolution of the Soviet Union (USSR) – stipulates that disputes between the parties should be resolved via an independent tribunal in the absence of a diplomatic solution. Cogolati says Russian oligarchs view this route as an "unparalleled" method for unblocking their Belgium-based assets.
Article four of the treaty states that Russian investments on Belgian territory must receive "fair and equitable treatment, excluding any unjustified measure or discrimination which might impede their management, maintenance, enjoyment or liquidation." However, article five allows for exceptions under certain conditions, including if measures to limit access are taken "in the public interest."
The Green MP submitted a request to the Finance Department for more clarity on how the treaty might impact European sanctions on Russia. "It was Russia that unjustifiably and illegally attacked Ukraine," he told The Brussels Times. "It would be a disgrace if an old Belgian-Soviet investment protection treaty were now to offer Russian oligarchs a bulwark against EU sanctions."
European trumps Belgian
In response to the information request, Finance Minister Vincent Van Peteghem (CD&V) confirmed that the treaty had been invoked by several Russian actors whose assets are frozen in Belgium. However, he sought to reassure Cogolati that the treaty was "irrelevant" and would have no impact on European sanctions.
Van Peteghem explained that the government "only takes into account the unfreezing possibilities provided for in European regulations and not in other legislation." Belgium's obligations under European law therefore override any pre-existing agreement with the USSR.
The Minister also emphasised that the Belgian Treasury does not designate sanctions. It merely applies the measures imposed at a European level.
There is currently €66 billion worth of frozen Russian funds and €190 billion in paused transactions in Belgium. This large concentration is due in part to the presence of financial institutions such as Euroclear in the country. Van Peteghem did not specify how many actors are behind the current push to activate the tribunal procedure under the 1989 treaty.
