Russian investors affected by European Union restrictions have approached EU courts and individual European countries with claims totaling at least €53 billion. Currently, 28 cases initiated by Russian businessmen are under consideration in the courts, of which 24 have been filed under the ISDS procedure—an investor-state dispute settlement mechanism.
This is reported by Kyiv24
Claims by Russian Businessmen and the ISDS Mechanism
The ISDS procedure allows investors to file claims against states in international courts, bypassing national and European jurisdictions if they believe their assets have been unlawfully seized. Estimates suggest that the actual volume of claims could be significantly higher due to the opacity of the processes and limited access to information.
The amount of €53 billion already exceeds a quarter of all sovereign assets of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation frozen in the EU, which are estimated at €210 billion. For example, the claim by Mikhail Fridman demands €16 billion from Luxembourg for blocking his assets.
The Situation with Assets and the Response from the European Commission
In September 2025, a group of Russian investors whose funds are held in the Euroclear depository filed a notice of impending claims against Belgium. Additionally, on November 18, Russian Expobank challenged the sectoral sanctions imposed on it in the EU Court in the summer of 2025.
Following the onset of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Western countries blocked Russian assets amounting to approximately €260 billion, of which about €193 billion are held in Belgium in Euroclear accounts.
In September 2025, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen proposed granting Ukraine a “reparations loan” of up to €140 billion secured by frozen assets. At the same time, Euroclear CEO Valerie Urban noted that the current plan of the European Commission for the forced seizure of Russian assets to aid Ukraine is unrealistic. She emphasized that the depository is prepared to challenge this decision in court to protect against potential bankruptcy in the event of corresponding actions from Moscow.
“In its current form, the European Commission’s plan for the forced seizure of frozen Russian assets to assist Ukraine is unrealistic, and the depository is ready to challenge it in court to protect itself from potential bankruptcy in the event of retaliatory measures from Moscow.”