How German investors fight for their money from their Russian stocks

Frankfurt, Dusseldorf It has been more than ten years since Stefan Czernin bought shares in the Russian natural gas company Gazprom. It was one of his first investments in the stock market. “I found the dividend attractive. I actually wanted to keep the shares until the end of the day.” They are part of his old-age security.

Then came the Ukraine war and changed everything. The share first collapsed, then trading was banned – and since then Czernin has had a problem: In the worst case, he only has a few cents of his investment.

And he’s not the only one: ING alone speaks of several thousand cases. The Handelsblatt spoke to those affected from various sides. There is talk of “cold expropriation”, of “collateral damage” and Western sanctions that are actually intended to cut off Russian companies from the capital market, but instead affect small investors. Russian investors and the Russian state as well as professional investors could benefit.