Germany seizes luxury yacht from Russian billionaire

The 156-meter yacht was confiscated at the Hamburg shipyard. Many Russian billionaires have parked their mega yachts outside the scope of Western sanctions – for example in the Maldives.

Forbes magazine reported that Germany confiscated the mega yacht “Dilbar” owned by Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov at the Hamburg shipyard. Usmanov is on the list of oligarchs endorsed by the European Union in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and Forbes wrote that the yacht is 156 meters long and has an estimated value of $600 million. It was currently at the shipyard of the shipbuilder Blohm + Voss in Hamburg for conversion.

at least five luxury yachts According to ship data, there are good reasons why Russian billionaires are currently in the Maldives. This includes “Cleo” owned by Oleg Deripaska, founder of the aluminum giant Rusal, as reported by the ship database Marine Traffic. This was already imposed by the USA in 2018. On Wednesday, his ship docked off the Indian Ocean island nation, which does not have an extradition treaty with the United States.

Ships arrived at the archipelago off the coast of Sri Lanka on February 24, after tough Western sanctions were imposed on Russia in retaliation for the invasion of Ukraine. This includes Titan. It belongs to Alexander Abramov, one of the founders of the steel production company Evraz.

Three more yachtsOwned by Russian billionaires, it has also been seen in the waters of the Maldives, according to the data. This includes the 88-meter “Nirvana” belonging to Russia’s richest man: Vladimir Potanin. Most of the ships were last seen moored in Middle Eastern ports earlier this year. A spokesperson for the Maldives government did not respond to Reuters requests for comment.

The United States wants to form a transatlantic task force

The United States wants to take tough measures to seize the property of Russians who are under sanctions. “Next week, we will launch a multilateral task force across the Atlantic to identify, track and freeze the assets of sanctioned Russian and oligarchic companies — their properties. yachtsTheir palaces and any other illegitimate gains we find can be frozen by law.”

Washington already imposed sanctions on Deripaska and other influential Russians in 2018 for their ties to President Vladimir Putin. The reason at the time was suspected Russian interference in the 2016 US election, which Moscow denies.

(APA/Reuters)