Goldman Sachs wrestles with sanctions fallout as Moscow court freezes $36 million of the bank's assets

• A Moscow court has temporarily frozen $36 million of Goldman Sachs' Russian assets.
• The bank's shares in Russian companies including Gazprom and Sberbank were frozen.
• Russian-owned bank Otkritie claims Goldman failed to uphold a $6.4 million swap contract, spurring the seizure.

Goldman Sachs is facing the fallout of Western sanctions on Russian firms after a Moscow court temporarily froze around $36 million of its assets.

The Moscow Arbitration Court temporarily seized 37 million shares in Russian retailer Detsky Mir worth about $27 million, alongside smaller holdings in Sberbank, Gazprom, and Lukoil - all owned by Goldman's III SICAV fund, according to the Financial Times.

The hostile move comes after Russia-owned Otkritie Bank, which faces Western sanctions, argued Goldman Sachs shifted ground over a $6.4 million swap contract with its plans to taper off business in Russia.

Goldman Sachs claimed the sanctions prevented it from honoring the debt obligations, per the outlet.

Since Russia's war with Ukraine broke out, the Wall Street bank moved to cut ties with Moscow. In March 2022, at the height of the invasion, Goldman became the first major US institution to shut down its operations in Russia, though the FT reports the wind-down continues.

"Goldman Sachs is winding down its business in Russia in compliance with regulatory and licensing requirements," the bank said in a statement to Insider at the time.

Some bank staffers were relocated from Moscow to Dubai at the bank's request.

Cutting business ties with Russia however has proven problematic for several European companies. An FT survey found that firms lost $100 billion by pulling out their operations from Moscow.