Part of the immense treasury of the Kremlin-affiliated oligarchs could soon flow into Ukraine’s coffers as compensation for war damage. Controversial Viktor Medvedchuk’s $200 million superyacht seized in Croatia is being taken over by the Kiev authorities and put up for auction. And for the first time, Ukrainians can confiscate the proceeds of an asset of a subject affected by sanctions.
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Putin, the network of secret bunkers (200 meters deep) from Moscow to the Urals and the Volga
The 200 million superyacht will be auctioned
Medvedchuk, 68, a Ukrainian politician and businessman who is very close to Vladimir Putin (who is his daughter’s godfather), was arrested by Kiev forces in April and handed over to Moscow in a prisoner exchange last September. His yacht, which was anchored in Croatia, was confiscated because it may have been money laundering.
What is new is that a local court has ruled that the boat must be entrusted to a Ukrainian government task force in order to “maintain its economic value by selling it at auction”. In this case, she is a real gem: the Royal Romance, over 92 meters long, with cabins for 14 guests, space for 21 crew members, as well as a 4 meter wide swimming pool and a “waterfall aft”. Another superyacht seized from a Russian oligarch, Dmitry Pumpyansky, was recently auctioned for $37.5 million to an unnamed buyer. But the proceeds went to the US investment bank JP Morgan as compensation for a debt incurred by the oligarch Pumpyansky himself. In the case of Medvedchuk, however, it would be the first such sale on behalf of the Ukrainian people since Western governments have restricted the assets of hundreds of oligarchs since the Russian invasion began. In Italy alone, for example, the Guardia di Finanza has frozen assets worth more than 800 million euros – including boats, villas, real estate complexes and company shares – of some of Russia’s richest men who are said to be close to Putin. Even the megayacht ‘Scheherazadè, which docked in the port of Marina di Carrara, of which the Tsar is the secret owner. And the western net against the oligarchs is getting tighter and tighter. Last in line, Mikhail Fridman paid the consequences: the 56-year-old billionaire (born in Ukraine who made his fortune in Russia) was pulled over by the British at his magnificent London residence last Thursday. Released on bail, he faces charges of money laundering, conspiracy to defraud the Home Office and conspiracy to commit perjury. It obviously didn’t help that he was the first oligarch from Putin’s entourage to express his opposition to the war.
