Oligarchs' Superyachts Are Quickly Scattering to Safe Havens
The U.S. and the leaders of the European Commission (France, Germany, the United Kingdom and Canada) said in a joint statement on Saturday that they'll form a transatlantic task force to hunt down and freeze the assets of sanctioned individuals and companies within their jurisdictions. It was widely reported that indicated Russian oligarchs would have their yachts seized where possible. But only seven oligarchs have been listed by the White House and Department of Treasury for sanction because they are “Putin KGB cronies.” None of them own the most famous Russian superyachts, which have all turned off their AIS transponders, and are now, we presume, steaming to safe harbors. We can suggest seven more oligarchs to be targeted.
It has been widely reported that virtually all of Russia’s oligarchs have Vladimir Putin’s tacit approval for their business dealings, if not his outright help. The Guardian recently published: “Bill Browder, a financier and critic of Russia, said those on Alexi Navalny’s list of 35 of Putin’s oligarch “enablers” should now be sanctioned by the UK, adding: ‘You don’t get to be an oligarch unless you’re basically in cahoots with Putin.’”
What is a Russian Oligarch?
Russian oligarchs are business oligarchs of the former Soviet republics who rapidly accumulated wealth during the era of Russian privatization in the aftermath of the dissolution of the Soviet Union in the 1990s. The failing Soviet state left the ownership of state assets contested, which allowed for informal deals with former USSR officials (mostly in Russia and Ukraine) as a means to acquire state property.
As the Russian army continues to attack Ukraine, there is a possibility that at some point, the oligarch/yachtsmen will eventually be targeted. But, with the warning they have gotten, we expect that all of their superyachts are currently steaming to safe harbors with their AIS transponders turned off. On Sunday, BoatTEST staff used available AIS apps to find well-known Russian Oligarchs’ yachts locations without success.
Navigational Choke Points
The government of Turkey has announced that it will not permit Russian warships to traverse the Bosporus, but will it stop oligarchs’ superyachts? The Royal Navy stopped a container ship sailing through the English Channel for St. Petersburg, but will it also set its sights on Russian superyachts?
Below is a sampling of superyachts either currently owned or formerly owned by Russian oligarchs that we think the White House should add to their list of targets.
Billionaire Roman Abramovich is on Alexei Navalny's list of 35 oligarchs who are allegedly among “key enablers and beneficiaries of Russian kleptocracy with significant ties/assets in the West.” Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation urged the European Union to sanction all of those on this list last year.
Abramovich reportedly took off from an airport near Monaco late last week in his palatial Boeing 787 and carefully flew around Ukraine to land in Moscow. He has come to symbolize the conflicted position of Western governments now moving to sanction oligarchs long welcomed by the European elite and arguably stands at the head of this class.
He owns the superyacht Eclipse, the largest yacht in the world, which has a helipad and a huge swimming pool. He owns a $200 million home just steps from Kensington Palace and other properties scattered among Colorado, the Caribbean and Southern France. He looms as one of the most obvious sanction targets because of his ties to Putin and exposure in Western jurisdictions.
Alisher Usmanov, 68, is part of a group of billionaires with assets in the West and close ties to Putin who could face economic penalties. For Usmanov, whose net worth tops $16 billion, that includes his 512’ (156.06 m) superyacht Ona (formerly called Dilbar, the name of his late mother). Ona has a large garden, two helipads and an 82’ (24.99 m) swimming pool.
Vladimir Potanin, one of the more famous Russian oligarchs, may have made his money through controversial loans-for-shares programs in his home country, but he’s still one of the wealthiest men in the world. He has owned as many as three superyachts at one time and seems to buy a new one every few years.
As one of the richest Russians living in London, with an estimated net worth of $15.1 billion, Alisher Usmanov bought in 2016 from a fellow oligarch the world’s biggest yacht at the time, Dilbar.
The 295’ (90 m) Ice was commissioned by Suleiman Kerimov in 2005 and he owned it until 2015 when he sold it to Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue, vice president of Equatorial Guinea, courtesy of his father. Teodoro, himself, has been sanctioned for alleged embezzlement and corruption.