The bank was one of the guarantor lenders under a contract for the construction of a gas processing plant in Russia with Germany’s Linde, which was terminated due to western sanctions.

The lawsuit was filed by St Petersburg-based RusChemAlliance, a joint-venture that is 50% owned by Russian gas giant Gazprom and which is the operator of the project.

St Petersburg arbitration court has barred Deutsche Bank from exercising its 100% interest in the authorised capital of its Russian subsidiary, as well as Deutsche Bank Technology Center LLC.

The court has also imposed the seizure of up to €238.6 million in securities, real estate and bank accounts of Deutsche Bank, as well as its Russian subsidiary and Deutsche Bank Technology Center.

Deutsche Bank in Frankfurt and in Russia did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Russian court yesterday ordered UniCredit’s assets, accounts and property, as well as shares in two subsidiaries, be seized as part of a parallel lawsuit.