In The Media

DE TIJD — FRONT PAGE — 7 AUGUST 2024

Belgium evades judicial review of frozen Russian billions

Subtitle: "The Department of Finance puts judges aside once affected Russians oppose"

Front-page investigation by Belgium's leading financial newspaper into Treasury tactics of withdrawing refusal decisions to prevent Council of State rulings on frozen assets.

The article reveals that the Treasury withdrew 63 out of 72 decisions in 2023 when challenged, effectively preventing judicial review of how €272 billion in frozen assets is being handled.

Featured Commentary

Quotes from Roeland Moeyersons in the De Tijd investigation

"

The legal trick used by the Treasury seems to be for tactical reasons. Our clients feel they are just being kept busy and that the Treasury is doing everything it can to avoid having to release the funds.

"

We don't even get the chance to go to the European Court, to have the way the Belgian government deals with European sanctions rules, reviewed. After all, it is already impossible to have this reviewed by the Council of State in Belgium.

"

These are people who have not been sanctioned and have nothing at all to do with the war. They are usually wealthy Russian individuals who have been living and working in Europe for years, including in Switzerland, the Czech Republic, Spain, the UK and Italy, but who were still using Russian banking or investment services.

"

I also act for sanctioned individuals, and that is a totally different story: their assets are indeed legally frozen. But a Russian millionaire who held his investments in a Russian bank using the NSD, but is himself not involved in sanctions at all, is not targeted by the sanctions and is entitled to the release of his money.

The Frozen Assets Crisis

Since the imposition of EU sanctions following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, billions of euros in assets have been frozen at Euroclear in Belgium. While the sanctions target specific individuals and entities, the implementation has affected many non-sanctioned individuals whose assets were held through the Russian National Settlement Depository (NSD).

The De Tijd investigation highlighted how the Belgian Treasury's procedural tactics have prevented meaningful judicial review of these cases, leaving affected individuals in legal limbo.

Our firm continues to represent clients seeking release of their legitimately held assets and challenging the administrative practices that deny them access to justice.

Belgium evades judicial review of frozen Russian billions

Featured Commentary

The Frozen Assets Crisis

Media Inquiries