where are russian oligarchs yachts

16 superyachts owned by Russian oligarchs

Western sanctions over moscow's invasion of ukraine led to many luxury vessels being detained in europe.

March 23, 2022

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Dozens of sanctioned superyachts seized from Russian oligarchs still hang in limbo, racking up millions in maintenance

• Seized yachts owned by sanctioned Russian oligarchs hang in limbo as US and European authorities decide next steps.
• Annual maintenance for some of the yachts costs as much as $115.6 million.
• Without proper care, some of the megayachts could deteriorate in a matter of weeks, experts say.

Dozens of superyachts seized from Russian oligarchs and collectively worth billions of dollars are likely racking up millions of dollars in maintenance costs or wasting away from improper care after hanging in limbo for almost a year.

The yachts and their billionaire owners, many of which are among Russian President Vladimir Putin's closest allies, were included in a series of sweeping global sanctions imposed against Russia for its invasion of Ukraine. Last year, Italy seized a $578 million megayacht  belonging to Andrey Melnichenko, France  seized a $120 million vessel  owned by Igor Sechin, and Spain  seized a $153 million superyacht linked to Sergei Chemezov, to name a few.

Earlier this week, CNBC reported that billions of dollars in oligarch's assets — from yachts and villas to private jets — are still frozen. Government authorities are working through a lengthy legal process that prevents them from officially taking ownership of the property. Experts previously told Insider that its a process that can take several months to years.

Most recently, US authorities filed legal paperwork in February seeking the official forfeiture of $75 million in luxury real estate tied to sanctioned Russian oligarch Viktor Vekselberg. The paperwork was filed nearly six months after the properties were first raided by the US Department of Justice and Homeland Security Investigations.

Meanwhile, other assets, including yachts, are still floating in the docks in which they were first seized. For example, the $300 million Amadea yacht that was tied to sanctioned Russian oligarch Suleiman Kerimov is still floating off Fiji after it was seized in May 2022, according to CNBC.

Insider spoke with four experts who described how the sanctions against Russia — which they say are more extensive than any other coordinated global round of sanctions in history — have lead to lengthy court battles and the deprecation of the world's most expensive superyachts. 

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"Yachts will start to deteriorate as soon as the maintenance program is relaxed," Benjamin Maltby, partner at Keystone Law in the UK and an expert in yacht and luxury asset law, told Insider. "Cleaning surfaces, and checking equipment operation is continual."

Sanctions leave yacht maintenance in the balance

Todd Roberts, president of Marine Boat Works in California, told Insider that yachts are typically seized for sales purposes, meaning the impounder has a vested interest in maintaining the yacht and its value. However, the sanctions have made the process more murky. 

The sanctions do not allow countries to take ownership of the yachts and the Russian billionaires remain the beneficiaries, though the assets are effectively frozen and blocked from use. 

And while the Russian oligarchs are still technically responsible for paying for yacht maintenance, they're unlikely to fork over the maintenance cost or authorities will encounter difficulty collecting the funds due to sanctions on financial transactions with the billionaires. 

In the meantime, it's unclear who will foot the bill. In some cases, such as in the maintenance of the Amadea, government authorities have been left to pay for the expenses, which includes paying for crew and docking fees, CNBC said. But Reuters reported in October that some countries, including France and Spain, have authorized the Russian owners to pay for the upkeep.

According to Maltby, the maintenance cost of a yacht usually totals about 15% to 20% of its overall value. For Melnichenko's yacht, for example, that would translate to up to $115.6 million in annual expenses.

'This is completely uncharted territory'

Even foregoing the costs to staff, repair, fuel, and insure the ship, the costs to dock the yacht can quickly add up. Roberts said docking fees alone typically cost tens of thousands of dollars per month.

Without proper care, vessels can lose about 30% of their value, according to Roberts. What's more, if a superyacht were to go without its crew — which typically includes a staff of 25 or more —  the vessel could quickly fail official inspections and ultimately lose its insurance due to concerns related to functionality and environmental risk.

Without insurance, the yacht would be unable to dock in most ports, harbors, or marinas around the world. 

What's more, some of the crews in charge of maintaining the vessel have long since left the ships as their pay was compromised early on by sanctions on Russia, accelerating the deterioration of the yachts and leaving authorities in the lurch when it comes to deciding what to do with the assets. 

"This is almost completely uncharted territory," Roberts said. "I don't think any of us fully understand what it will mean for the industry."

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Trying to sell Russian oligarch's seized luxury assets is running into trouble

Jackie Northam

After Western governments seized millions in assets from Russian oligarchs, a question remains: What should be done with their yachts?

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NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

Watch CBS News

Russian oligarchs moving yachts as U.S. tracks down assets

By Catherine Herridge

March 2, 2022 / 9:19 AM EST / CBS News

Yachts owned by Russian billionaires are on the move as the U.S. and its allies seek to hunt down the assets of Russia's wealthiest in direct response to the invasion of Ukraine . The wealthiest Russian money – including Russian President Vladimir Putin's — has pushed to sea.

Data from MarineTraffic, a global intelligence group, shows yachts owned by oligarchs are on the move, including aluminum magnate Oleg Deripaska's $65 million Clio and oil executive Vagit Alekperov's $80 million Galactica Super Nova.

"No self-respecting oligarchy exists without a super yacht. And so what we're seeing now is a hightailing it on the high seas," financier and anti-corruption activist Bill Browder told CBS News. 

A super yacht is typically over 40 meters long. The Clio and Galactica are each over 70 meters long. 

In response to Putin's war against Ukraine, the Biden administration created a task force to go after Russian oligarchs' "yachts, luxury apartments, money and their ability to send their kids to fancy college[s] in the West." 

Browder said the goal is to get the oligarchs to pressure Putin to stop the war. 

"We're not ready to engage in military warfare. And so there's an expression: We should fight them in the banks if we can't fight them with tanks,'" he said. 

Some oligarchs have made statements taking issue with the Russian invasion.

Mikhail Fridman, who founded one of Russia's largest private banks, said he does "not believe that war would be a solution." Evgeny Lebedev — the son of an oligarch, and who owns a London newspaper — wrote an op-ed pleading with Putin to "save the world from annihilation." 

The financial pressure is really about undermining support for Putin, both "among rank-and-file Russians as well as the oligarchs who help control the economy," said John Smith, former director of the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control, which administers and enforces all foreign sanctions.

Weeks before Russia invaded Ukraine , the $100 million "Graceful" — believed to be owned by Putin himself— left a German port for safer Russian waters. 

"He's a former KGB agent, and he has worked his entire career to appear on the surface to be the common man — when below the surface, it's apparent that he has significant wealth stored," said Smith.

Former government officials and experts told CBS News that cutting off Putin's revenue from the energy industry is key but this is an area where both the U.S. and its allies are vulnerable. Further disrupting the energy supply could send prices even higher .

• Vladimir Putin

Catherine Herridge is a senior investigative correspondent for CBS News covering national security and intelligence based in Washington, D.C.

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U.S. wants to seize Russian oligarchs' yachts, homes and jets. How is that legal?

President Joe Biden gave a stern warning Tuesday night to Russia's richest billionaires and business elite that the United States and its allies will "find and seize their yachts, their luxury apartments, their private jets" in retaliation for the country's military invasion of Ukraine .

"We're coming for your ill-begotten gains," Biden said during his State of the Union address to applause from both Democrats and Republicans.

On Wednesday, the Department of Justice announced the formation of a special unit, the Task Force KleptoCapture, that will lead the charge to seize proceeds from "the crimes of Russian oligarchs." One of its first steps will be locating their U.S.-based holdings — an onerous undertaking because many are known to launder their money through real estate , as well as other alternative assets, such as art, jewelry and yachts. And financial experts say those oligarchs are able to cloak their true identities as owners by creating shell companies and benefiting from major disclosure loopholes in private equity and luxury goods.

Tracing money and asset ownership through foreign banks, while a time-consuming and Byzantine process, is already being done by a Justice Department-operated "kleptocracy unit" launched in 2010, said Stefan Cassella, a former federal prosecutor and an expert in asset forfeiture law. But the creation of an official task force specifically targeting Russian oligarchs is an encouraging sign, he said, because it shows "resources are being added so now they can take on more of these cases."

If federal investigators connect the dots between an oligarch and that person's assets here, what then is the likelihood the U.S. government can swoop in and ultimately confiscate the individual's sources of wealth?

For starters, it's legal under the Civil Asset Forfeiture Reform Act , which has its roots in the 18th century when America would seize cargo from foreign ships that didn't pay a customs or import tax. It also grew in use as a drug law enforcement tool in the 1980s, and it's a common tool against terrorists and fugitives.

The law allows one's assets to be forfeited to the federal government in connection with a long list of federal or foreign crimes, but it's a separate action from any criminal litigation. Civil forfeiture laws have become popular ways for state and local governments to raise revenue, although critics say it's a practice abused by law enforcement to profit off of criminal activity.

Under the law, prosecutors can consider freezing the asset or seizing it, which requires a probable cause standard and potentially a warrant from a judge.

The freezing or blocking of an asset means it can't be sold or transferred and U.S. citizens can't engage in any transaction involving it, said Jimmy Gurulé, a law professor at the University of Notre Dame and a former undersecretary for enforcement at the Department of the Treasury during the George W. Bush administration.

"You can still live on the yacht, but you certainly can't transfer it," he said.

Seizing the asset goes further. If prosecutors believe it has a specific link to illegal activity, including that it was derived from it, they may seek to confiscate it and ultimately have the U.S. gain ownership.

A person whose asset is being seized has the opportunity to get it back through the courts. If the person chooses to do so, the burden of proof is on the U.S. government to show the asset is connected to criminal activity. In the case of a Russian oligarch, prosecutors won't need to furnish evidence that person or the asset is directly tied to the conflict in Ukraine or the funding of attacks, Cassella said.

"They have to prove the underlying crime, but it doesn't have to do with war crimes or Ukraine," he said.

During court proceedings, the person may still be given access to the asset or the government can get a restraining order in which the person can't touch it. For something like an apartment building that may have tenants and where the income is potentially at the center of illegal activity, the government may ask that any rents be paid into an escrow pending the resolution of the case.

The U.S. has seized assets from foreign leaders and business figures before. Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue, the vice president of Equatorial Guinea, was accused of using his position in 2011 as the country’s then-minister of agriculture and forestry to amass more than $300 million through corrupt practices and money laundering that federal prosecutors say also broke U.S. law.

The Justice Department took Obiang to court and eventually settled , requiring him to sell a Malibu, California, mansion he bought for $30 million, a Ferrari and various pieces of Michael Jackson memorabilia. More than $10 million of the settlement was forfeited to the U.S. (The civil forfeiture matter was docketed as the United States v. One Michael Jackson Signed Thriller Jacket.)

A civil forfeiture isn't the only way the government can get hold of an asset. If someone is convicted criminally, the person's wealth can also be seized during the sentencing phase if prosecutors show it's linked to the illegal activity.

But convicting a Russian oligarch of a crime would likely be more difficult than the civil forfeiture route since it requires bringing them to the U.S. to stand trial, Cassella said.

Ultimately, what happens to an asset once the U.S. acquires it?

Gurulé said it could be sold at auction with the profits going back to the government's coffers or it could be repurposed.

As a federal prosecutor in California, he recalls once flying in a Drug Enforcement Administration plane to Mexico. That plane, it turned out, had been confiscated by federal officials from a Mexican cartel, which previously used it to transport drugs to the U.S.

Erik Ortiz is a senior reporter for NBC News Digital focusing on racial injustice and social inequality.

Who's Paying for Russian Oligarch's Seized Yacht in San Diego Bay?

The amadea, which superyachttimes.com called the 63rd largest yacht in the world, tied up monday at naval base san diego, in national city, by eric s. page and mari payton • published june 28, 2022 • updated on june 28, 2022 at 2:11 pm.

Many San Diegans who saw the news about the Amadea — the $325 million seized Russian oligarch's yacht that docked in San Diego on Monday — may be wondering: Who's paying for that?

Imagine how much the fuel costs to sail it more than 5,000 miles from Fiji, where it was seized earlier this month, to San Diego? A local marine fuel dock quoted the following prices, if you're wondering: $7.40 for gas, $7.35 for diesel. According to SuperYachtTimes.com, the Amadea has a 392,000-liter fuel tank. That works out to about 103,555 gallons, so it could cost $766,307 or so just to fill up.

24/7 San Diego news stream: Watch NBC 7 free wherever you are

And then there are maintence costs on a 350-foot long yacht, which, you can be sure, are extensive and necessary — in fact, not undertaking such efforts can cause the vessel's value to decline if it deteriotes due to neglect.

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The Amadea carries a full complement of 36 crew, including the captain, according to SuperYachtTimes, but it won't need nearly that many once she tied up at Naval Base San Diego in National City. Nevertheless, someone will be monitoring the yacht and conducting the maintenance.

According to the U.S. Department of Justice, the yacht was bought with what it calls "dirty money," and, as such, some may be relieved to hear, will be sold to the highest bidder. Presumably, the associated post-seizure costs accrued after its seizure will be coming off the top of the sale price. Until then, the Amadea, which SuperYachtTimes called the 63rd larges yacht in the world, will resume in the custody of the U.S.

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Officials with the DOJ said the Amadea, which was seized in connection to the department's KleptoCapture campaign undertaken in the wake of the invasion of Ukraine by Russia, was owned by Suleiman Kerimov a Russian billionaire.

After the yacht arrived in San Diego, John Kirby, a former federal prosecutor, told NBC 7 that he thinks the U.S. government hopes moves like the Amadea's seizure are efforts to apply pressure to Russian president Vladimir Putin.

Earlier this month, Deputy U.S. Attorney General Lisa O. Monaco said, regarding the Amadea, “The department had its eyes on every yacht purchased with dirty money. This yacht seizure should tell every corrupt Russian oligarch that they cannot hide — not even in the remotest part of the world. We will use every means of enforcing the sanctions imposed in response to Russia’s unprovoked and unjustified war in Ukraine.”

The court ruling represented a significant victory for the U.S. as it encounters obstacles in its attempts to seize the assets of Russian oligarchs around the world. While those efforts are welcomed by many who oppose the war in Ukraine, some actions have tested the limits of American jurisdiction abroad.

The United States wasted no time in taking command of the after a Fiji court ruled in its favor and sailed the ship away from the South Pacific nation just hours after the ruling.

"If you could say or somehow prove that this boat … that the oligarch had the money for this boat because he bribed Vladimir Putin, that is public corruption," Kirby said. "It’s a crime even when it takes place outside the United States. The United States can still act upon it."

According the website, the Amadea is not currently for sale, but that may soon change. Until then, you can "shop" for other eye-popping, wallet-busting boats here .

The Associated Press contributed to this report — Ed.

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Where are the Russian oligarchs’ yachts?

• Molly Mulshine
• Danni Scott
• Published : 10:10 ET, Mar 21 2022
• Updated : 10:29 ET, Mar 21 2022

RUSSIAN oligarchs have felt the sanctions placed upon them by various countries, including seizures of their superyachts.

This has caused a growing number of oligarchs to move their yachts into no extradition waters.

Where are the Russian oligarchs' yachts?

Since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022, western countries have rolled out sanctions designed to cripple President Vladimir Putin 's economy.

But the most prosperous and influential Russians keep their assets far away from their homeland.

The Russian oligarchs ' famous yachts are scattered throughout the world's seas.

As Europe and North America mull further sanctions, Marine Traffic data shows that four oligarch-owned yachts headed south .

read more on Russian Yachts

Huge £450m superyacht ‘owned by oligarch and Putin ally’ seized by Spain

They ditched EU-protected waters like the coast of Barcelona to dodge officials who could eventually seize their ships.

On March 2, 2022, German authorities blocked in Alisher Usmanov's mega-yacht Dilbar in a Hamburg harbour, not seizing it but preventing the 490-feet-long yacht from leaving.

Embattled oligarch Roman Abramovich, who's caught up in the sale of Chelsea football team , has two mega-yachts.

Solaris has been spotted heading for Turkey after docking in Montenegro while Eclipse is off the coast of Algeria.

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Vladimir Strzhalkovsky's superyacht the Ragnar has not been seized but is currently stuck in Norway because nobody will sell it fuel.

The Maldives became a yacht hot spot as Victor Rashnikov and Oleg Deripaska's luxury vessels dropped anchor there, according to Bloomberg .

Alexei Mordashov and Andrey Kostin chose to travel to the Seychelles in their respective boats.

Crucially, neither the Maldives nor the Seychelles has announced sanctions against Russia or its citizens.

Vagit Alekperov's yacht sailed from Barcelona to Montenegro , as reported by Balkan Insight , despite the country's ongoing attempts to keep billionaires from hiding assets on its shores.

Which Russian oligarch's yachts have been seized?

The Russian billionaires are thought to be some of the only people who have Putin's ear.

Sanctions against the average citizen living in Russia might not move the superrich, but it's hoped that threats of seizing foreign assets could.

On March 2, French authorities seized Amore Vero, which was linked to Igor Sechin, in La Ciotat in the Mediterranean.

Another of Sechin's yachts named Crescent was taken by Spanish authorities on March 16, in the port of Tarragona, Catalonia.

Shortly after, on March 14, the $140 million yacht belonging to Sergei Chemezov, a former KGB officer, was seized in Barcelona, Spain.

Spanish authorities also seized Lady Anastasia, in Mallorca, which reportedly belongs to Alexander Mikheyev, a Russian arms exporter.

Super-yacht Lady M, belonging to steel magnate Alexey Mordashov was seized in Imperia by Italian authorities.

Another yacht in Sanremo was taken, called Lena and belonging to to Gennady Timchenko, an oil and gas mogul.

Italy seized a $580 million yacht owned by Andrey Melnichenko, who was sanctioned on March 9, in the port of Trieste.

According to Croatian reports, Victor Medvedchuck;s mega yacht called the Royal Romance has also been seized.

🔵 Read our Russia - Ukraine live blog for the very latest updates

What other major sanctions have been placed on Russia?

Western countries started sanctioning Russian banks, billionaires and politicians the day Putin sent troops into Ukraine.

This means Russian entities can't access their bank accounts .

Perhaps the most crushing blow came when Russia was removed from the Swift network.

The Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecom facilitates speedy exchanges between banks all over the globe. Without Swift, transacting with Russia becomes much more difficult.

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Russian Oligarchs’ Investments in Elon Musk’s X Raise Questions About Potential Putin Connections

Elon Musk faces questions about his ties to two Russian oligarchs after a court document revealed investors in the billionaire’s acquisition of Twitter, now X.

The reveal came after a federal court forced Musk to disclose shareholders for X as part of the ongoing legal battle with former Twitter employees claiming Musk violated their arbitration agreements by withholding certain payments after he bought the social media platform for $44 billion. Disgraced hip-hop mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs and Silicon Valley investors including Larry Ellison, Marc Andreessen and Bill Ackman were also named as early investors in the acquisition.

Among the investors, venture capital firm 8VC is drawing criticism for its ties to Denis Aven and Jack Moszkowicz, the sons of Russian oligarchs Petr Aven and Vadim Moszkowicz. Both have strong political and economic ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Both men have also been subject to Western sanctions due to their associations with the Kremlin amid the ongoing war in Ukraine.

Since his acquisition of the platform, Musk has been outspoken regarding his views of Russia as well as the ongoing war, at times calling for the U.S. government to withhold aid to Ukraine.

X users criticized the platform’s owner following the investor reveal, noting that the court filing confirmed their belief that Musk’s ties to Putin are significant and possibly impacting the platform’s functionality.

Incredible… Putin’s henchmen helped Musk to acquire Twitter. That explains a lot: the position of Musk on Crimea… the refusal at some point to let Ukraine use Starlink… the support for Trump… Time for the US to wake up ! https://t.co/R2dSJXR781 — Guy Verhofstadt (@guyverhofstadt) August 24, 2024

My tweets are all aimed at the two sanctioned Russian oligarchs that loaned Elon Musk the money to buy twitter so he could protect their money laundering idiot and Putin’s bitch, Donald J. Trump. That’s the gig. There’s no other reason to be here. — NoelCaslerComedy (@caslernoel) August 26, 2024

5/ Comrade Musk is not a fighter for the freedom of speech, but an enabler of russian genocide against Ukraine, sponsored by russia itself. — Roman Sheremeta (@rshereme) August 25, 2024

Who owns this platform? Well, Elon Musk just told us To no one’s surprise, amongst the owners are 2 Russian oligarchs—close to Putin & sanctioned over the invasion of —Petr Aven & Vadim Moshkovich One day we’ll learn to distinguish Free Speech from Paid Lies pic.twitter.com/6dqvsuv1hS — Andrew Chakhoyan (@ChakhoyanAndrew) August 25, 2024

We have been telling you this. It's crazy that everything surrounding Trump and his surrogates leads to Putin. It's not a conspiracy, it's fact. https://t.co/IHherT0Y2c pic.twitter.com/ZRpbQ3jZpM — Anonymous (@YourAnonNews) August 26, 2024

The post Russian Oligarchs’ Investments in Elon Musk’s X Raise Questions About Potential Putin Connections appeared first on TheWrap .

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