Oligarchs, confiscated mega yachts from Sechin and Usmanov for more than 1 billion dollars

Milan – The French government announced the seizure of a yacht owned by a company linked to Igor Sechin, CEO of the Russian oil group Rosneft, at a shipyard in La Ciotat, southern France. He added, “French customs confiscated the yacht the love This is true in La Ciotat, as part of the implementation of EU sanctions against Russia, the French Ministry of Economy and Finance said in a statement.

The ministry adds that this yacht is “owned by a company in which Igor Sechin, CEO of Rosneft, has been identified as the main shareholder.” He adds: “It falls within the framework of the freezing measures taken by the European Union against its owner.”

The nearly 86-meter luxury yacht, whose main deck, which includes a swimming pool, can be converted into a helipad and was interior designed by famous interior designer Alberto Pinto, has been parked in this courtyard for repairs and had to stay there until 1 April. “At the time of the inspection, the ship was organizing to sail urgently, without completing the planned works,” the ministry explained in stimulating the reservation. This is the third ship that France has blocked as part of its retaliatory measures taken after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

In the morning, there was also news that the German authorities had seized 600 million yachts from the Russian oligarchs. Alisher UsmanovHe is one of the closest to Putin and for this reason Punished by the European Union to the Russian invasion in Ukraine.

The news was re-released before Forbes He cites three sources within the luxury shipbuilding industry and relates to the Dilbar boat: 512 feet (156 meters), which has been at a shipyard in the port of Hamburg since last October

The hunt for the oligarchs: the shares of Mordashov, Friedman and Avene are frozen. But in Costa Smeralda there is an occupation warning

By Viola Giannulli, Giovanni Ponce

March 02 2022

Forbes recalls that Usmanov bought Dilbar in 2016: in fact a $600 million creditor purchase. The crew is approximately one hundred men to manage 12 suites and 24 passengers. It took the German shipyard Lürssen more than 52 months of work to put together what was called “one of the most complex and challenging yachts ever, in terms of size and technology”. There was also talk of anti-aircraft missile systems, which the shipyard CEO denied: “It has the most advanced safety systems of any yacht in the world, but these things don’t make sense.”

Usmanov was listed as one of Putin’s closest men and became a billionaire thanks to the activities of Metalloinvest, and he was one of the first investors on Facebook from whom he bought a stake of more than 2% before it was listed on the stock exchange. He was also the owner of 30% of the Arsenal football team that he left in 2018 with $ 700 million, but until yesterday some of his companies were sponsoring Everton.

In addition to owning several properties ranging from Great Britain near London, to Munich in Germany, to Lausanne in Switzerland, Usmanov lives in his Sardinia home where he bought Antonio Merloni’s villa in Romazzino years ago. To which I add many other villas scattered in the south and north of Porto Cervo, in Pevero Bay and in Lecia de Vaca. On the fifteenth of August it is customary to have a party for a son’s birthday and on that occasion consumption has no limits: from the cellars of Surrau for that party he usually buys 350 boxes of wine while a company in Cagliari fills the pantries. Locals say that in Costa there are at least 40 villas on an area of ​​​​1,000 square meters that belong to the Russians, that Usmanov alone employs about 100 on his property, and that now they risk being unemployed because it is unlikely that the oligarch will be able to sail the Sardinian seas. ‘the summer. At Porto Cervo, at his expense, a pier was built only to allow Dilbar to moor but the mega yacht has not yet appeared in port. The giant Usmanov plane usually stops in the hangar of Olbia Airport, and it is so large that it leaves the massive tail of the fuselage visible.

Following the news of the European Union sanctions against him, Usmanov submitted, on Tuesday, his resignation from the presidency of the International Fencing Federation, which he has headed since 2008, and issued a statement as follows: The European Union believes that this decision is unfair, and that the reasons used to justify the sanctions are false, defamation, and harmful. On my honor, my dignity and my reputation as a businessman. I will use all legal means to protect my honor and reputation. “

The yachts of other oligarchs are being prepared these days in an attempt to escape the penalties imposed on them. Close to Sri Lanka and the Maldives. Cleo of Oleg Deripaska, owner of Rusal, has been reported off the Mali archipelago, and Titan owned by Alexander Abramov, co-founder of steel producer Evraz, has also arrived in those waters in recent days. While the 88-meter-high Nirvana of Vladimir Potanin, one of the richest men in Russia, sails west of India towards Sri Lanka and the Maldives.

Instead, Roman Abramovich’s May Solaris, the oligarch trying to sell Chelsea, has been stopped in the Barcelona port, but could be the next to be taken over even if its owner is, for the time being, not affected by the sanctions by Boris Johnson.

The search for oligarch yachts could extend to Italian waters, namely in the Adriatic, where the Galactica Super Nova ship, the ship of Vagit Alekperov, the former Oil Minister who controls 25% of the hydrocarbon extraction company Lukoil. The company also has activities in Italy, having since 2008 bought 49% of Isab from Erg dei Garrone, a refinery in Priolo near Syracuse, where it took control of 80% in 2014 but has recently been rumored to be in operation. a discount. It is not excluded that these activities now fall within the scope of the sanctions imposed by the European Union.

Aleaxei Mordashov, the main shareholder of Severstal, is one of the fastest people to lose track of his mega yacht, which appeared in the summer of 2021 on Costa Smeralda with the North, a 142-meter and $500 million beast, ranking second only to Delmar Usmanov. The north was located in the navigation area of ​​the Indian Ocean, in Anse Boudin, east of the Seychelles. Mordashov is one of the oligarchs on the blacklist of Putin’s closest men, so his legacy is a potential target for sanctions.