Belgian court bars ex-Yukos shareholders from Bank of Russia asset-freeze case
In short
A Belgian court refused former Yukos shareholders Hulley Enterprises and Veteran Petroleum permission to join the Bank of Russia's lawsuit against the Council of the EU over the indefinite freeze of Russian assets, per a ruling published on 29 September. The court said joining requires a direct interest in the outcome, and that their claims on Russian assets do not turn the reserves dispute into a compensation case. TASS, citing European legal circles, said their chances of recovering compensation in European jurisdictions are close to zero.
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A Belgian court has refused the former Yukos shareholders Hulley Enterprises and Veteran Petroleum permission to join the case between the Bank of Russia and the Council of the European Union over the indefinite freeze of Russian assets, Kommersant reported, citing a ruling published on 29 September. TASS also reported the refusal but described the decision as one by an EU court, while Kommersant identified it as a Belgian court ruling. [ 1 , 2 ]
According to Kommersant, the two companies argued in their filings that the Russian government expropriated Yukos assets and that they are seeking compensation. They wanted to join the case on the EU side, saying the outcome would affect their attempts to recover compensation from Russian assets through Belgian courts and the Euroclear depositary, where most of those assets are blocked. The court held that admission to the proceedings requires a direct interest in the outcome itself, and that their claims against Russian assets do not by themselves turn the dispute over sovereign reserves into a compensation case. [ 2 ]
Kommersant reported that the Council of the EU adopted a regulation on 12 December 2025 making the freeze of €210 billion of Russian gold and foreign exchange reserves indefinite; previously, European countries had to vote every six months to extend the blocking. In March 2026, the Bank of Russia challenged that regulation in a court in Luxembourg, the outlet reported. [ 2 ]
The shareholders' claims trace back to a 2014 international arbitration award of $50 billion in compensation to former Yukos controlling shareholders, including Hulley Enterprises and Veteran Petroleum, Kommersant reported. Attempts to enforce it in Belgium and France had already led to the seizure of assets of institutions linked to Russia, but most of those seizures were later lifted because the property belonged to state-controlled organisations rather than the state itself. Lawyers estimated in 2024 that sanctions legislation provided no route to recover frozen state assets, and that seizing the assets themselves would require a separate decision by each country, according to the outlet. [ 2 ]
TASS, citing a source in European legal circles, reported that the former Yukos shareholders' chances of obtaining any compensation from Russia through European jurisdictions are “close to zero”, because Russian assets in Europe now face many significantly more influential claimants. [ 1 ]
Why it matters
The decision keeps former Yukos shareholders out of a case that could shape how the EU's indefinite freeze of €210 billion in Russian state reserves is handled in European courts, which the shareholders link to their effort to enforce a $50 billion arbitration award through Belgian courts and the Euroclear depositary. Because the freeze was made open-ended by a Council regulation instead of being renewed every six months, the litigation now running through EU and Belgian courts carries more weight for how frozen sovereign assets are treated.
Key facts
- A court refused former Yukos shareholders Hulley Enterprises and Veteran Petroleum permission to join the case between the Bank of Russia and the Council of the EU over the indefinite freeze of Russian assets. [ 1 , 2 ]
- Kommersant reported that the ruling was published on 29 September and that the court said admission to the dispute requires a direct interest in its outcome. [ 2 ]
- The Council of the EU adopted a regulation on 12 December 2025 making the freeze of €210 billion of Russian gold and foreign exchange reserves indefinite, replacing six-monthly extension votes, according to Kommersant. [ 2 ]
- The Bank of Russia challenged that regulation in a court in Luxembourg in March 2026, Kommersant reported. [ 2 ]
- The shareholders' claims stem from a 2014 international arbitration award of $50 billion in compensation to former Yukos controlling shareholders, Kommersant reported. [ 2 ]
- TASS, citing European legal circles, said the former shareholders' chances of obtaining compensation from Russia in European jurisdictions are close to zero because Russian assets in Europe face many more influential claimants. [ 1 ]
Confirmed by several sources
- A court barred former Yukos shareholders from joining the proceedings between the Bank of Russia and the Council of the EU over the indefinite freeze of Russian assets. [ 1 , 2 ]
- The underlying case is the Bank of Russia's challenge to the EU's indefinite freeze of Russian assets, and the shareholders sought to take part in it. [ 1 , 2 ]
Still unclear
- Which court issued the ruling. TASS described it as an EU court, while Kommersant identified it as a Belgian court; both referred to the same decision.
- The shareholders' prospects of recovering compensation. TASS attributed the assessment that the chances are close to zero to an unnamed source in European legal circles, and Kommersant reported separately that sanctions law offered no route to recover frozen state assets as of 2024.
- Details of the €210 billion freeze regulation and the Bank of Russia's challenge in Luxembourg. These specifics appear only in Kommersant and are not corroborated by the other document.
What local media are saying
Timeline, local time
- TASS reports that an EU court barred former Yukos shareholders from joining the Bank of Russia's lawsuit against the Council of the EU, citing European legal circles who said compensation chances are close to zero. [ 1 ]
- Kommersant reports the Belgian court's refusal of Hulley Enterprises and Veteran Petroleum, citing a ruling published on 29 September and setting out the €210 billion freeze regulation and the Bank of Russia's March 2026 challenge in Luxembourg. [ 2 ]