France has seized a yacht owned by Russian oligarch Igor Sechin, the French finance ministry said in a statement on Thursday.
Sechin is the CEO of Russian oil giant Rosneft. The European Union sanctioned Sechin earlier this week, describing him as one of the “most trusted and closest advisers to Russian President Vladimir Putin, as well as his personal friend”.
The yacht, called “Amore Vero” – or “True Love” in Italian – arrived in the French Mediterranean port of La Ciotat in January. She was scheduled to leave port on April 1.
“Thanks to French customs officials who are enforcing EU sanctions against those close to the Russian government,” French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said in a tweet.
Sechin was Russia’s deputy prime minister from 2008 to 2012. The European Union said his connections with Putin are “long and deep”, with the two maintaining daily contact.
Earlier this week, Le Maire announced that France had created a task force to complete a census of financial assets and luxury goods belonging to Russian personalities targeted by EU sanctions.
BP (BP) said on Sunday it would relinquish its 19.75% stake in Rosneft and relinquish two seats on the company’s board.
Russian billionaires move yachts to Maldives
At least five yachts owned by Russian billionaires were moored or sailing on Wednesday in the Maldives, an Indian Ocean island nation that has no extradition treaty with the United States, vessel tracking data showed.
The arrival of the vessels to the archipelago off the coast of Sri Lanka comes after the imposition of severe Western sanctions on Russia in reprisal for the invasion of Ukraine on February 24.
The yacht Clio, owned by Oleg Deripaska, founder of US-sanctioned aluminum giant Rusal, docked in the capital Malé on Wednesday, according to the MarineTraffic database.
The Titan, by Alexander Abramov, co-founder of steelmaker Evraz, arrived on February 28.
Three other yachts belonging to Russian billionaires were seen navigating Maldives waters on Wednesday, the data showed, including the 88-metre Nirvana owned by Russia’s richest man Vladimir Potanin.
Most of the vessels were last seen docked in Middle Eastern ports earlier this year.
A spokesperson for the Maldives government did not respond to a request for comment.
The United States has said it will take strict measures to confiscate properties from sanctioned Russians.
“Next week, we will launch a multilateral transatlantic task force to identify, hunt and freeze the assets of sanctioned Russian companies and oligarchs – their yachts, their mansions and any other ill-gotten gains we may find and freeze under the law,” the House said. Branca in a tweet on Sunday (27).
Source: CNN Brasil
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