France confiscates the yacht of a Russian tycoon when he was preparing to set sail on the Côte d'Azur

France confiscates the yacht of a Russian tycoon when he was preparing to set sail on the Côte d'Azur



Agencies / ABC
Updated: 03/04/2022 10:36 a.m.
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The French government announced Thursday that it had seized a yacht owned by a company linked to Igor Sechin, chairman of Russian oil group Rosneft, at a shipyard in La Ciotat, southern France.

"The French customs proceeded to seize the yacht 'Amore Vero' in La Ciotat, within the framework of the application of the sanctions of the European Union against Russia," the French Ministry of Finance said in a statement.

Amore Vero - AFP

This yacht "is owned by a company of which Igor Sechin, the company's director, was identified as the main shareholder," adds the ministry.

The seizure, carried out by customs agents, occurred on Wednesday night after a control of several hours.

This luxurious yacht, 86 meters long, and whose main deck can be transformed into a heliport, arrived in La Ciotat on January 3. She was immobilized in the shipyards until April 1 to undergo repairs.

“In the framework of the implementation of the European Union sanctions against Russia, and in support of Ukraine, we proceeded to seize the first yacht. The 'Amore Vero' has been immobilized in France », the French Minister of Public Accounts, Olivier Dussopt, who has responsibility for Customs, congratulated on Twitter.

The Minister of Economy, Bruno Le Maire, thanked the customs agents who "enforce the sanctions of the European Union against those close to the Russian authorities" for the news.

A yacht appartenant à un oligarque russe a été saisi.
Merci aux douaniers français que font respecter les sanctions de l'Union européenne à l'encontre des proches du pouvoir russe. pic.twitter.com/AZVzmlet2P

— Bruno Le Maire (@BrunoLeMaire) March 3, 2022

This is the third ship intercepted by France as part of retaliatory measures taken after Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Last Saturday, the French authorities immobilized in the English Channel a trading ship that, according to Paris, belonged to the Russian bank PSB, the Baltic Leader, and on Sunday a Russian freighter, the Victor Andryukhin, which was intercepted in the port of Marseille -Fos.

Separately, Forbes reported Thursday that Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov's yacht had been seized by German authorities. However, the same magazine later published a correction on the news: "Three sources had told Forbes that he had been seized, but a representative of Usmanov quoted the statement from the ministry in Hamburg to confirm that he had not." "In its statement, the ministry explained that the German federal customs agency is the 'responsible enforcement authority' and would have to issue an export exemption for the yacht to leave, and that 'no yacht leaves the port without permission. to do it,'" the post added.

Usmanov's yacht has been docked in Hamburg, Germany, for months for repairs. Dilbar, a 512-foot yacht weighing 15,917 tons, "is the world's largest motor yacht by gross tonnage," reported Lürssen, the German shipbuilder.

Other yachts belonging to Russian oligarchs have been detected heading to the Indian Ocean, to destinations such as the Maldives and the Seychelles just as sanctions have been imposed on their country following the invasion of Ukraine.

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