MOSCOW - Sberbank has appealed to the Court of the European Union demanding that sanctions be lifted, the bank said in a statement.
“OJSC Sberbank appealed to the Court of the European Union yesterday with a suit for the annulment of the decision by the Council of the European Union to apply restrictive measures [sanctions] concerning Russia against the bank,” the press release said.
Since the deal is subject to the review of the Court of Justice of the European Union, and in accordance with the usual practice of handling such types of issues, the bank will not comment on its claim until the court has reached a final decision on the issue, the press release says.
Sberbank was among a number of companies and banks to fall under the EU’s sectoral sanctions in July. Those included on the sanctions list were initially barred from placing financial instruments with maturity of over 90 days in the EU. The entities are also not allowed to issue new shares or any derivatives thereof. In September, this restriction was increased to 30-day maturity.
Sberbank CEO German Gref later told journalists that the lower maturity restriction will not affect the bank since foreign capital markets had already been closed for Russian borrowers.
