Russian billionaire’s yacht stranded in the Strait of Gibraltar

Reproduction / Forbes

The luxury yacht Axiom, owned by Russian oligarch Dmitry Pampiansky

Authorities in the British Overseas Territory of the Strait of Gibraltar have seized a yacht belonging to a Russian billionaire That suffered penalties on Monday (21). French authorities also seized two yachts owned by another sanctioned Russian billionaire last week. This brings the number of banned, frozen or lost superyachts since the Russian invasion of Ukraine to nine.on February 24.

on Monday (21), The Strait of Gibraltar – Spain’s southernmost point – carries the 236-foot-tall Axiom Dmitriy Pampiansky’s yacht. Axiom “has been confirmed as the subject of an arrest suit by a major international bank in the High Court of Gibraltar”. The ship left the Caribbean island of Antigua on March 4.

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Pumpyansky owns Axiom, registered in Malta, through Pyrene Investments Ltd. Headquartered in the British Virgin Islands. According to yacht valuation company VesselsValue, Axiom has a value of US$42 million (about R$204 million). It was built in 2013 by the Turkish shipyard Dunya Yachting and was originally known as the “Red Square Project” The yacht has a 3D cinema and a water sports center – Including jet skis, kayaks and snorkeling equipment – plus a steam room and gym. The ship also has six cabins that sleep 12 guests, including a VIP suite and a master suite. Pumpyansky made his fortune as the owner of the TMK . Pipe Manufacturing Group, which supplies pipelines to the Russian oil giant Gazprom. Sanctions were imposed on the billionaire by the European Union on March 9 and the United Kingdom on March 15.

And the French news agency (AFP) reported today (23) that French authorities confiscated two large yachts owned by Alexei KuzmichevAccording to a French government source. One of them, the 85-foot-high Big Bear, was captured in Antibes on Monday (21); The other, the 56-foot-tall little bear, was confiscated in Cannes on March 16, according to AFP. The French authorities estimated the value of the two yachts at 99 million dollars. Kuzmichev is a member of Russian oligarch Michael Friedman, Peter Aven and Germain Kahn are at Letter One and Luxembourg-based Alpha Investment Group. He resigned from LetterOne’s board on March 8, a week before he was hit with UK and EU sanctions.

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Forbes says so At least nine superyachts totaling US$1.6 billion (or 7.7 billion BRL) have been banned, lost their registration or frozen since the Russian invasion. That includes Facebook investor Alisher Usmanov Dilbar – one of the world’s largest yachts, valued at $588m (£588m), who was stranded in the port city of Hamburg and banned due to sanctions. March 3 – along with Andrey Melnichenko’s SY A, the world’s largest sailing yacht, was frozen by Italian authorities on March 12.