1224
Wealthy Russians have lost more than half of their most expensive yachts, according to data from The Moscow Times.
“The fleet of the Russian rich suffered a complete defeat after the introduction of sanctions by Western countries. Of the more than 70 large yachts in the best of times, about a third remain at their disposal,” the publication writes.
Most of the remaining yachts were relocated to the UAE by Russian rich people.
Only part of the Russian president's flotilla was returned to the Russian Federation. According to the "Dossier" center, Vladimir Putin had up to nine yachts - the largest loss was the 140-meter Scheherazade, which was detained in Italy.
It should be noted that it is also attributed to the former president of Rosneft, Eduard Khudainatov. Putin still has the 82-meter Graceful, the 71-meter Victoria, the 54-meter yacht Chaika, and the auxiliary vessel Orion.
In total, about a third of the Russian elite fleet was arrested. Earlier, the 143-meter Sailing Yacht A of Andriy Melnychenko, the 58-meter Lady M of Oleksiy Mordashov, and the 40-meter Lena of Gennady Tymchenko were detained in Italy.
The yachts Crescent belonging to Igor Sechin, Valerie belonging to Sergey Chemezov, and Lady Anastasia belonging to Alexander Mikheev were detained in Spain.
The Russians were the least lucky, with their yachts being seized in the UK and its overseas territories. The Alfa Nero, owned by Andrey Guriev, and the Axioma, owned by Dmitry Pumpyansky, were sold off.
Almost none of this “became to Ukraine” – only Medvedchuk’s yacht Royal Romance was transferred to the flag of our country by Croatia.
It is also reported that wealthy Russians are actively selling off their yachts for the third year in a row. Thus, in 2024, the founder of the Stroygazconsulting holding, Ziyad Manasir, got rid of the yacht Dar.
Last year, Alexander Dzhaparidze, the founder of the drilling company Eurasia, sold his yacht. The vessel is called Come Together, and it was valued at $70 million.
“Former KGB officer and ex-head of Norilsk Nickel, Vladimir Strzhalkovsky, sold his 65-meter ship Ragnar ($85 million) in the summer of 2023,” The Moscow Times adds. Most often, wealthy Americans bought yachts of wealthy Russians.
What happened to the confiscated Russian yachts?
Last year, it was reported that Western countries had seized some superyachts belonging to wealthy Russian citizens. At the time, there were hopes that at least some of them would be auctioned off and the proceeds could be given to Ukraine.
However, in practice, these vessels turned out to be not so much valuable “trophies” as a financial burden, as maintaining the yachts required enormous expenses.
Some of the vessels simply “disappeared.” For example, in the summer of 2022, yachts believed to be the property of Belarusian-Russian oligarch Dmitry Mazepin disappeared from the Sardinian port of Olbia.
