A court in Russia ordered the seizure of assets of Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank

VIENNA (AP) — A court in Russia has ordered the seizure of assets of Deutsche Bank and Germany’s Commerzbank in the country, Russian state news agency TASS reported. The St. Petersburg court ruling is a response to a lawsuit regarding the construction of a liquefied gas terminal on the Baltic Sea.

The banks were among the guarantors of the contract for the construction of a gas processing plant between the transnational construction company Renaissance Heavy Industries and the German company Linde. But the project was canceled after Western sanctions and banks withdrew their guarantees.

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

RusKhimAlliance paid Linde an advance for the construction of the plant. The company is seeking about 238.61 million euros ($260 million) from Deutsche Bank and 94.92 million euros ($103 million) from Commerzbank, according to dpa.

In a statement, Deutsche Bank said it had committed about 260 million euros ($283 million) under the severance agreement.

He also noted that he would need to assess the immediate operational implications for Russia and see how Russian courts would handle the claim.

Two years ago, Western countries imposed a wide range of sanctions against Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.

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Elsie Morton reported for The Associated Press from London.