The yacht is under investigation by the Italian police, and the Italian Ministry of Economy informed, on Friday evening, the decree ordering its confiscation as part of the sanctions imposed by the European Union on the Russian oligarchy.
European Union sanctions against the Russian oligarchs date back to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and despite the €650 million yacht confiscation order, the name of its owner has not been revealed.
According to journalists from the imprisoned Russian opposition team, Alexei Navalny, the ship, which has a length of more than 140 meters and carries the flag of the Cayman Islands, belongs to Vladimir Putin, although officially it is in the name of oligarch Eduard Khodinatov.
Eduard Khdinatov is the former head of Rosneft and is also the owner of the Vila Altachiara mansion in Portofino (Northwest), but he does not appear in the list of certified Russian billionaires.
The yacht Scheherazade has been in the shipyard since September 2021, for a series of maintenance work estimated at six million euros, and according to Italian media, the yacht should be ready to sail in mid-June.
Collaborators of Alexei Navalny noted that the entire crew of the yacht, with the exception of the captain, has Russian citizenship.
The ship, which contains a swimming pool, a gym and two helipads, including a hangar, is the only one in the world over 140 meters in length, and its owner is unknown.
Since the sanctions were passed, Italy has confiscated three more yachts from the Russian oligarch, as well as countless real estate assets worth hundreds of millions of euros.
