Moscow court rejects Euroclear appeal in frozen assets case, state media reports

MOSCOW, July 16 (Reuters) - A Moscow court on Thursday rejected an appeal by Euroclear against a ruling that it should pay damages of 18.2 trillion roubles ($233 billion) to the Russian central bank in a dispute over the freezing of Russian assets in Europe, state news agency RIA said.

The court upheld an original ruling in May against the Belgium-based clearing house.

The decision is partly symbolic, as Russian courts do not have jurisdiction in the European Union. However, the Russian central bank could seek to seize Euroclear assets in countries that Moscow sees as friendly, such as China, the United Arab Emirates and Kazakhstan.

Of roughly 300 billion euros in Russian assets that were frozen abroad in 2022 after Russia invaded Ukraine, about two-thirds are in Europe, mostly held at Euroclear.

The lawsuit in Moscow was lodged in December 2025, when EU leaders were considering seizing part of the frozen Russian assets to finance Ukraine's war effort. They eventually decided instead to borrow cash to loan 90 billion euros to Kyiv, but to keep the assets frozen until Moscow pays war reparations to Ukraine - something Russia says it will not do.

Euroclear says it complied with EU law by freezing the assets, and that it does not consider itself subject to the jurisdiction of Russian courts.

Euroclear in turn sued the Russian central bank in a Belgian civil court last month, seeking to block the enforcement of the Russian ruling against it. 

($1 = 78.1500 roubles)

(Reporting by Reuters, writing by Mark Trevelyan; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)