Russian court freezes assets of two German banks in dispute over gas project

VIENNA (AP) — A court in the Russian city of St. Petersburg has ordered the seizure of assets held by Deutsche Bank and Germany’s Commerzbank in the country, Russian state news agency Tass says. The order is a response to a lawsuit over the planned construction of a liquefied natural gas terminal in the Baltic Sea.

The banks were among the guarantors of the construction contract for a gas processing unit between a multinational construction company, Renaissance Heavy Industries, and the German company Linde. But the project was canceled after Western sanctions, with banks withdrawing their guarantees.

The cancellation occurred at the request of RusChemAlliance, a subsidiary of Russian gas giant Gazprom and operator of the project, German news agency dpa reported.

RusChemAlliance paid advances to Linde for the construction of the factory. The company claims around 238.61 million euros ($260 million) against Deutsche Bank and 94.92 million euros ($103 million) against Commerzbank, according to dpa.

In a statement, Deutsche Bank said it had made a provision of approximately 260 million euros ($283 million) under an indemnity agreement.

It also stated that it would be necessary to assess the immediate operational impact on Russia and see how the complaint will be viewed by Russian courts.

Western nations have imposed a wide range of sanctions against Russia over Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine two years ago.

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Elsie Morton reported for the Associated Press from London.