BRUSSELS, September 14. /TASS/. The Belgian State Council has declared the treasury’s refusal to unblock the foreign assets of Russia’s BCS Bank to be unlawful.
The decision of the treasury’s general administrator dated 15 July 2024 to reject the applicant’s request to unblock its funds held at Euroclear Bank SA is annulled, the ruling, published on the authority’s website, says.
In 2024, the Treasury refused to unfreeze the foreign assets held by T·Bank and broker BCS World of Investments, frozen by EU sanctions against the National Settlement Depository.
The EU and G7 countries froze about 300 billion euros’ worth of Russian assets. About 185 billion euros are held in the Belgian depository Euroclear.
In 2025, Russia’s central bank filed a 18.2 trillion ruble lawsuit against Euroclear in the Moscow Arbitration Court. The amount includes frozen funds, the value of blocked securities, as well as lost profits. The use of Russian frozen assets by European countries is considered a crime and will be punished, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.