The freezing of hundreds of billions of dollars in lenders' assets was part of the dispute over the gas project halted by sanctions.
A Russian court ordered the seizure of Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank's assets, accounts, property and shares in the country as part of a process involving the German banks, court documents show.
The banks are among the guarantor lenders of the contract for the construction of a gas processing plant in Russia with the German company Linde. The project was canceled due to Western sanctions.
European banks have largely abandoned Russia after Moscow launched its offensive against Ukraine in 2022.
A St. Petersburg court ruled to seize 239 million euros ($260 million) from Deutsche Bank, documents dated May 16 show.
Deutsche Bank in Frankfurt said it had already provisioned around 260 million euros ($283 million) for the case.
“We will have to see how the Russian courts implement this claim and assess the immediate operational impact in Russia,” the bank added in a statement.
The court also seized the assets of Commerzbank, another German financial institution, worth 93.7 million euros ($101.85 million), as well as securities and the bank's building in central Moscow.
The bank has not yet commented on the case.
In a parallel lawsuit on Friday, the Russian court also ordered the confiscation of UniCredit's assets, accounts and property, as well as the shares of two subsidiaries. The ruling covered 462.7 million euros ($503 million) in assets.
UniCredit said it “was informed” of the decision and was “reviewing” the situation in detail. The bank was one of the most exposed European banks when Moscow launched its invasion of Ukraine, with a large local subsidiary operating in Russia.
It began preliminary talks last year about a sale, but talks have not progressed. CEO Andrea Orcel said UniCredit wants to exit Russia, but added that giving away a deal worth three billion euros ($3.3 billion) was not a good way to respect the spirit of Western sanctions on Moscow over the conflict.
Russia has faced heavy Western sanctions, including on its banking sector, since the start of the war in Ukraine. Dozens of American and European companies have also stopped doing business in the country.
