Oligarch’s £340m superyacht once owned by Roman Abramovich is seized – Reuters
The luxury nine-deck boat is now owned by an Azerbaijani oligarch who is a former member of the Russian parliament – although he denies owning it.
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A £340million superyacht with its own submarine and once owned by Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich has been seized in Germany.
The luxury ship belonging to the Azerbaijani oligarch is not allowed to leave the port of Hamburg where it is moored, due to the sanctions put in place against those who support the regime of Vladimir Putin.
According to Germany’s Federal Criminal Police Office, the Liechtenstein Trust is listed as the owner of the boat, called The Luna, and a network of documents viewed by police show businessman Farkhad Akhmedov is behind the trust.
The gas magnate is a former representative of the Federation Council of Russia – the upper house of the Russian parliament – and lived and worked in London from 1986 to 1994.
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Picture:
AFP via Getty Images)
Akhmedov, who made headlines last year in a high-profile £450million divorce battle with his London-based ex-wife Tatiana, reportedly denied being his current landlord and also denied being close of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
He has been on the EU sanctions list since early April. Forbes recently estimated his fortune at around $1.4bn (£1.15bn).
The yacht – which has nine decks, a huge swimming pool and a small submarine – must now remain in port until further notice.
La Luna was first purchased by Russian tycoon Roman Abramovich in 2010.
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Picture:
Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Until recently, Germany was lagging behind other countries in the hunt for oligarch fortunes.
At the start of April, the amount of funds frozen in the country stood at just €125m (£108m). ).
The Luna is now the second oligarch ship to be frozen in the port of Hamburg by the Federal Criminal Police Office.
The first was the world’s largest superyacht Dilbar, which is owned by the sanctioned sister of Uzbek-born Russian oligarch Alisher Usmanov.
The yacht, called Dilbar, was registered with a holding company in Malta and is 512 feet long.
Dilibar was launched in 2016 and is said to be worth $648m (£493m).
The extravagant deck features an 80ft swimming pool and there is room for two helipads.
Economic sanctions were imposed on Mr Usmanov because of his ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin and in response to the invasion of Ukraine.
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