Russia’s Sberbank files lawsuits over restrictions on European units

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia’s largest lender, Sberbank, has filed lawsuits challenging decisions by the European Commission and Single Resolution Board (SRB) to impose restrictions over some of its European operations.

Sberbank Europe AG, based in Vienna, was closed in March by order of the European Central Bank (ECB), which cited the risk of imminent failure resulting from the bank’s economic difficulties and the potential for a run on deposits after Russia sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine.

The SRB, which was set up to limit the cost to taxpayers from failing banks, on March 1 adopted resolution schemes with respect to Sberbank Europe’s subsidiaries in Croatia and Slovenia, ruling that shares be transferred to a buyer, citing risks to the financial stability of the two countries.

Sberbank did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the lawsuits, which were brought on Aug. 22, filings published by the European Union showed on Monday.

(Reporting by Elena Fabrichnaya and Alexander Marrow; Editing by David Goodman)