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Russia mirrored the assets of the international depositories Euroclear and Clearstream for a total amount of regarding 229.1 billion rubles. This is stated in their reports for 2022. Previously, the specific amount of assets of European investors blocked in Russia was not named. The volume of frozen assets of Russian companies and citizens due to sanctions once morest NSD was estimated by the Bank of Russia in January at 5.7 trillion rubles. This is 25 times more than Euroclear and Clearstream.

Attention to the reporting of Euroclear and Clearstream earlier also drew Forbes.

The report of the Belgian Euroclear says that at the end of last year, 188.5 billion rubles were blocked in rubles on accounts of type “C” and “I”. and 28.9 billion rubles. respectively. Accounts “C” are intended for conducting transactions for the purchase and sale of foreign currency by non-residents, transactions with securities and investments in the Russian economy. Accounts “I” are used to credit money intended for payments to holders of Russian Eurobonds, the rights to which are recorded in foreign infrastructure. Money coming into these accounts is blocked.

In the report, Clearstream named the total amount of funds blocked in Russia. We are talking regarding €134.1 million (regarding 11.7 billion rubles).

“We must go to the courts and take them [заблокированные средства]”, says Alexander Nektorov, Managing Partner at NSP law firm. Earlier, Vedomosti wrote that NSP was collecting applications from institutional and private investors to join a class action lawsuit in Russia once morest Euroclear and Clearstream.

According to Nektorov, all funds of Euroclear and Clearstream from accounts “C” and “I” can be recovered by the court in favor of Russian investors. He referred to a letter from the Bank of Russia, which referred to cases of write-offs of funds by court decision from accounts “C”. It is officially known that in February a Russian court recovered $107 million from Euroclear in favor of Bank St. Petersburg, and in April it became known regarding the unblocking of the bank’s assets in Belgium for a comparable amount – regarding $110 million.

It is inappropriate to talk regarding the unhindered foreclosure of all Euroclear and Clearstream funds blocked in Russia, Dmitry Kletochkin, partner at the law firm Rustam Kurmaev & Partners, believes. An attempt to recover money can be hampered by clients of depositaries who may own part of the blocked funds: they are unlikely to agree to their transfer to other persons, the lawyer believes.