In an unprecedented move, the Belgian Treasury has allegedly granted licences to two Russian banks, currently under US sanctions, to partially unfreeze their assets, according to Russian business newspaper Vedomosti.
The unfreezing could release a total of $20 million in frozen assets. The exact details of the two banks involved have not been disclosed.
The announcement about the unfreezing of the assets was made by lawyer Andrey Timchuk from Russian law firm Delcredere, which apparently played a role in securing these licences.
Belgium's Finance Ministry refused to confirm the unfreezing of the assets, citing "professional secrecy."
The US's Specially Designated National and Blocked Persons (SDN) list, which imposes sanctions on both companies and individuals, includes over 30 Russian banks. Western sanctions aim to cut the Russian banking sector off from the rest of the world.
Russia was particularly affected by EU sanctions against Russia’s National Settlement Depository (NSD), a financial services company headquartered in Moscow, causing vast sums from numerous banks to be frozen in the accounts of Brussels-based securities company Euroclear, which now holds millions of euros in frozen Russian assets as a result of EU sanctions. Belgium has blocked nearly €200 billion in Russian financial transactions and frozen assets worth €2.7 billion.
Success in the courts
On Thursday, Russian media reported that Russia's Saint-Petersburg Bank had won its court case against Euroclear to recover assets to the value of $107 million. It is still unclear whether this bank is part of the two entities who have received licenses to unblock their assets. Due to sanctions, it is unlikely that the bank will be able to unfreeze all the assets which it manages to successfully unblock.
Russian media suggest that Russian banks and individuals have successfully obtained a licence from the Belgian Treasury to free their money from foreign accounts.
The Delcredere law firm claims to have secured another licence from the Belgian regulator for a Russian individual, who, while being on the US sanctions list, also lacked EU citizenship or residency. In a comment to Russian business media RBK, the lawyer claimed that they had an almost 100% success rate in acquiring licenses from the Belgian treasury for unblocking frozen assets from sanctioned entities, suggesting further licenses.
Another firm, BGP Litigation, successfully obtained licences from a Swiss bank and a Cypriot broker. Another sanctioned Russian apparently managed to unblock securities in Euroclear, but the process of withdrawing this money remained intricate, especially with fresh US sanctions against several brokers.
Each year, Russian banks pay millions of dollars towards the Kremlin. These funds are ultimately used to help fund Russia's war against Ukraine. The unblocking of assets is also likely to help the Russian banking sector stay afloat, whereas sanctions are intended to isolate Russian from the global economy.
