Russian Court Seizes Nearly $760M From 3 Western Banks

A Russian court based in St. Petersburg on May 18 seized nearly $760 million of assets belonging to UniCredit, Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank, according to the Financial Times. A subsidiary of Russian gas giant Gazprom, RusChemAlliance, had told the court that the three western banks must pay bank guarantees under a contract with German firm Linde. RusChemAlliance's contract with Linde, which concerned the construction of a liquified natural gas processing plant and production facility in St. Petersburg, was paused due to EU sanctions on the Russian company.

The court seized over $502 million from UniCredit -- a figure representing about 4.5% of the bank's assets in Russia, the FT said. The court also seized over $259 million from Deutsch Bank, including property and holdings in Russian accounts. The exact amount seized from Commerzbank is unknown, though RusChemAlliance asked for the seizure of over $103 million. The order also said that Deutsche Bank can't sell its business in Russia.