MOSCOW, October 24 (RAPSI) – OAO Sberbank, Russia's biggest bank, announced on Friday that a claim has been filed with the Court of Justice of the European Union over Western sanctions imposed on it following Crimea's break away from Ukraine.

The European Union and the United States introduced in July the first round of sanctions against Russia which target its banking, defense and energy sectors, as well as certain Russian businessmen.

Notably, major Russian banks, including Sberbank, VTB, Gazprombank, Rosselkhozbank, Vnesheconombank, are barred from Western capital. American and European investors were forbidden to issue loans to Russian banks and buy their newly issued stock and bonds.

The European Union and the United States imposed the latest batch of sanctions against Russia on September 12 targeting a number of Russian oil companies, including Rosneft, Transneft and Gazprom Neft.

Russian oil giant Rosneft and billionaire Arkady Rotenberg earlier filed suits with the EU Court of Justice over sanctions which had been imposed on them.