EU court bans former Yukos shareholders from joining dispute between Central Bank of Russia and European Council

A Belgian court has refused to allow former Yukos shareholders Hulley Enterprises and Veteran Petroleum to join a trial between the Bank of Russia and the Council of the European Union on the indefinite freezing of Russian assets. This follows from the decree published on September 29.

The organizations in the lawsuit alleged that the Russian government had expropriated Yukos assets and was seeking compensation. In this dispute, they wanted to side with the EU, pointing out that the outcome of the case will affect their attempts to recover compensation from Russian assets through Belgian courts and the Euroclear depository, where most of them are blocked. However, the court pointed out that a direct interest in the very outcome of the case was necessary for admission to the dispute.

On December 12, 2025, the EU Council adopted a regulation on the indefinite freezing of Russian gold and foreign exchange reserves by €210 billion. European countries had to vote every six months to extend the ban. In March 2026, the Central Bank challenged this regulation in a court in Luxembourg.