Russian billionaires move their super yachts to the Maldives as sanctions are tightened

At least five super-yachts belonging to Russian billionaires were currently moored in the Maldives or sailing to this island state of the Indian Ocean, which has no extradition and judicial cooperation agreement with the United States, according to data from the services monitoring the voyages. ships.

The arrival of the boats in this archipelago off the coast of Sri Lanka follows the imposition of severe Western sanctions on Russia in retaliation for the February 24 invasion of Ukraine.

The Clio superyacht, owned by Oleg Deripaska, the founder of the US aluminum giant Rusal, who was sanctioned in 2018 by the United States, anchored off the capital Male today, according to the MarineTraffic shipping database.

The Titan, owned by Alexander Abramov, co-founder of the Evraz steel plant, arrived on 28 February.

Three other yachts belonging to Russian billionaires were seen sailing in Maldivian waters today, according to the data. These include the 88-meter-long Nirvana that belongs to Russia’s richest man, Vladimir Potanin. Most of these boats were seen earlier this year moored in Middle Eastern ports.

A Maldivian government spokesman did not respond to a request for comment.

The United States has said it will take action to seize Russian-sanctioned property.

“This week, we will launch a multilateral transatlantic strike force to identify, hunt down and freeze the assets of punished Russian companies and oligarchs – their yachts, their villas and any other illicit profits we can find and freeze based on of the law, “the White House said in a Twitter message on Sunday.

Washington has imposed sanctions on Deripaska and other influential Russians in 2018 over their ties to President Vladimir Putin, following alleged Russian interference in the 2016 US election, which Moscow denies.

SOURCE: AMPE