New lawsuit on confiscation of Russian assets

On February 20, 2023, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy enacted the decision of the National Security and Defense Council to impose sanctions against the management of the largest Russian banks. The decision also updated sanctions against  Moscow Exchange.

The Ministry of Justice filed a lawsuit against the HACC to recover its assets. This is the first lawsuit where only a legal entity is the defendant. 

The Moscow Exchange is effectively a monopolist on the Russian market for capital market services and products. Among the owners of the Moscow Exchange are the Central Bank of the Russian Federation (11.7%), Sberbank of Russia (10%), and the state corporation VEB.RF (8.4%).

According to its consolidated annual report, in 2021, Moscow Exchange paid RUB 6.9 billion in income tax to the Russian state budget and invested about RUB 110 billion in Russian bonds.

The third party in the case is the Ukrainian Settlement Center for Servicing Contracts in Financial Markets.

Source: Institute of Legislative Ideas