Moscow rushes €217 billion Euroclear claim

A Moscow court on May 27 fast-tracked enforcement of an 18.2 trillion rouble (~€217 billion) claim by Russia's central bank against Euroclear, the Brussels clearing house that settles most cross-border securities trades in Europe (The Moscow Times).

The ruling skips the normal appeals route and lets Russia demand immediate payment. Euroclear has rejected Moscow's jurisdiction, saying the claims are "not recognised under EU law" (Meduza).

Outside Russia, the judgment carries little legal weight. Moscow has no bilateral enforcement treaty with Belgium and no route to seize Euroclear assets held inside the EU (HCCH Status Table). Its use is political and procedural: it adds another layer of uncertainty to an already difficult European decision.

Belgium's quiet windfall

Euroclear holds €200 billion in frozen Russian assets, equal to 93% of all such assets in the EU (Belga News Agency). The money generates large interest income: €6.9 billion in 2024, falling to €5 billion in 2025 as the ECB, the European Central Bank that sets eurozone interest rates, cut rates (Euroclear 2025 Results, VRT NWS).

The EU takes most of that through a 99.7% "windfall contribution", a compulsory levy on Euroclear's exceptional revenues from the frozen assets. About €6.6 billion has been transferred to Ukraine so far (compensation.com.ua).

Belgium, however, keeps the corporate tax on Euroclear's windfall income. Five EU diplomats cited by RBC Ukraine put that at roughly €1.7 billion in 2024 alone. That money goes into the Belgian budget, not Ukraine's.

For Belgium and Euroclear, the present arrangement has advantages: the assets remain frozen, interest keeps flowing, and tax is collected. Confiscating the principal, as the Netherlands, Poland and the Baltic states want, would end that stream. Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever says Belgium would need "unlimited financial guarantees" from the EU before considering confiscation, a condition Brussels is unlikely to meet (EU Today).

Lawsuits as fog machines

Moscow is also using EU courts to thicken the legal fog. Apart from the Moscow ruling, Russia's central bank has filed two cases before the EU General Court in Luxembourg.

One challenges the December 2025 regulation that froze the assets indefinitely. The other targets the February 2026 regulation sending interest income to Ukraine (Courthouse News, Kyiv Independent). No rulings are expected before late 2027.

The cases are not expected to succeed. Their value is in delay. Every open file gives more cautious EU governments another reason to avoid the harder step of confiscating the principal.

The real erosion is mathematical

The ECB's deposit rate, the rate commercial banks earn on overnight deposits at the central bank and the anchor for much short-term eurozone income, is now 2.00%, down from a peak of 4.00% (ECB).

Each 25-basis-point cut removes roughly €485 million in annual interest from the frozen assets. The G7's $50 billion ERA loan programme, short for Extraordinary Revenue Acceleration, lends to Ukraine against future interest from those Russian assets (White House ERA briefing). At current rates, the annual income has already halved from 2024 levels.

If rates fall again in a downturn, the EU is left with an uncomfortable choice: issue more joint debt to cover the gap, which the Netherlands opposes, or confiscate the principal, which Belgium blocks. Russia does not need to win in court. It only needs Europe to keep arguing with itself while the interest dries up.