Russia sues European banks over funding dispute

Russia’s RusChemAlliance is taking legal action against five European banks for cutting off financing for a gas project in Russia, thanks to Western sanctions after the 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

The lawsuits, filed on Sept. 16 with St. Petersburg’s Arbitration Court, target UniCredit (Italy) and Germany’s Deutsche Bank, Commerzbank, Bayerische Landesbank, and Landesbank Baden-Württemberg.

So far, RusChemAlliance and Commerzbank are keeping quiet on the matter, and the other banks haven’t commented either. This isn’t the first time RusChemAlliance, a 50-50 joint venture with Russian gas giant Gazprom, has taken action.

They’ve been filing lawsuits against European banks since Linde, a German industrial gases company, bailed on a liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant project at Ust-Luga in 2022.

The St. Petersburg court even froze some of Linde’s assets in Russia and elsewhere to recoup lost funds. This court has previously ordered the five banks involved to pay damages. Will they? Stay tuned.