EU extends deadline for retrieving blocked Russian assets

Regulators in Belgium and Luxembourg have extended the deadline for the filing of documents unblocking Russian assets kept in their respective clearing systems, Philipp Gabunia, Deputy Chairman of the Bank of Russia, said at a meeting organized by the Association of Russian Banks on Friday.

According to the official, non-sanctioned Russian investors now have until the end of July to apply for the release of their funds. The previous deadline was January 7, which, Gabunia said, gave investors an “extremely short” time period for filing the necessary documents.

“The last information from [EU authorities] was that the opportunity to file has been extended until the end of July. All the big investors with many, many individuals behind them who have applied have not yet received an answer,” Gabunia noted.

European regulators authorized the release of “certain frozen funds and economic resources” that belong to Russian investors by granting a general license to Russia's National Settlement Depository (NSD) at the end of December. The assets in question are held at Belgium’s Euroclear and Luxemburg’s Clearstream clearing houses.

Both ceased transactions with NSD's accounts on February 28, shortly after the start of Russia’s military operation in Ukraine, and on June 3, blocked the NSD's accounts following its inclusion on the Ukraine-related EU sanctions list.

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