BRUSSELS, October 29. /TASS/. The General Court of the European Union has registered lawsuits filed by Russian state-owned banks against the EU sanctions, a court spokesman said on Wednesday.

“The court has registered the lawsuits by VTB, Gazprombank and Sberbank,” the spokesman said.

It normally takes 30 months on average for the court to examine lawsuits but the procedure of passing a verdict on complaints against the EU sanctions will last about two years, the spokesman said.

“It all depends on each particular situation but it will take no less than two years,” the court spokesman said.

Sanctions againt Russian banks

The European Union imposed sanctions against major Russian banks on September 12 over Russia’s stance on the Ukraine crisis. The sanctions apply to VTB Bank, Gazprombank, Russian Agricultural Bank and Vnesheconombank (VEB).

The sanctions prohibit European investors to issue these banks new loans with maturity of over 30 days or buy the banks’ equities and bonds with terms of over 30 days.

Gazprom Neft, the oil arm of Russian energy giant Gazprom, also earlier filed a lawsuit to the General Court of the European Union against the EU sanctions.

The General Court of the European Union is the first instance court, which has the powers to resolve disputes related to the EU legislative norms, their compatibility with national legislations of the member states and their fulfillment by European companies and organizations.

Rulings by this Luxembourg-based court may be repealed by the higher instance tribunal - the European Court.

European sanctions were successfully disputed in the court in the past, in particular, by Iranian banks, which proved that the restrictions imposed by the EU against them were groundless.