Russian court freezes assets of 2 German banks in gas project dispute
The Russian state news agency Tass says a court in St. Petersburg has ordered the seizing of assets of Germany's Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank in Russia. The order is in response to a lawsuit over the planned construction of a liquefied natural gas terminal in the Baltic Sea. The banks were among the guarantors in the contract for the building of a gas processing plant by a multinational firm and the German company Linde. But the project was canceled after Western sanctions, with the banks withdrawing their guarantees. In a statement Deutsche Bank said it has made a provision for approximately 260 million euros, or $283 million, under an indemnification agreement.