Spain seizes Russian oligarch’s £107m superyacht
A $140m (£107m) superyacht owned by Russian oligarch Sergei Chemezov has been taken by Spanish authorities.
The vessel’s seizure was announced by its Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, who said “there will be more” to come, with two yachts docked in Barcelona owned by non-sanctioned oligarchs, being monitored.
Luxury boats linked to Russian oligarchs have been seized by Italy, Germany, France and Spain in recent weeks, following the implementation of strong sanctions on the Kremlin by the European Union, UK and US.
This week, Roman Abramovich’s yacht was seen in Montenegro, as the oligarch was spotted at Ben Gurion Airport in Israel, where he holds citizenship.
“Today we seized – the technical term is provisionally immobilised – a yacht belonging to one of the principal oligarchs,” Sanchez said, according to Reuters.
The 85-metre yacht called Valerie reportedly belongs to former KGB officer Sergei Chemezov, who heads Rostec, a Russian state-owned defence conglomerate, founded by Putin.
He has been sanctioned by both the US in 2014 and UK in 2020, following Moscow’s invasion and annexing of Crimea.
Reuters also said the vessel was registered to his stepdaughter through a British Virgin Islands company, according to an article in the Pandora Papers leak.
On Tuesday it was announced more than 1,000 Russian individuals and organisations had been sanctioned by the UK government, as it continues to ramp up pressure on Moscow. Among those hit were 370 Russian oligarchs and their families.