Shaherazade, one of the largest and most expensive yachts in the world, presumably linked to Russian billionaires, is moored in the harbor of the small Italian town of Marina di Carrara
Shaherezada mega-yacht, one of the largest and most expensive yachts in the world, probably associated with Russian oligarchs , mooring in the harbor of the small Italian town of Marina di Carrara, arrested by Italian police, – the Voice of America reports.
on Vladimir Putin and his associates
On Friday, the Italian government ordered police to confiscate a luxury yacht worth about $ 700 million, which, according to media reports, is owned by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Marina di Carrara since September, when some action was noticed on its berth some time ago, which led the local authorities to believe that the crew was preparing to go to sea.
A source directly aware of the several-week investigation into the vessel said police said it was owned by Eduard Khudainatov, a former head of Russia's energy giant Rosneft, which is not currently subject to EU sanctions./p>
In a statement of arrest, the Italian Ministry of Finance did not name the owner, saying only that he was associated with “high-ranking representatives of the Russian government.”
The ministry said the owner was not on any of the sanctions lists drawn up by Brussels after Russia's invasion of Ukraine. A statement from the Italian Finance Ministry said Rome had asked Brussels to rectify this by ordering the ship's arrest pending a decision in the EU./p>
In an address to the Italian parliament in March, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called on the Italian government to confiscate the yacht as part of a European effort to put pressure on Putin and his allies to stop aggression against Ukraine.
yachts worth more than 900 million euros ($ 950 million) from wealthy Russians who regularly come to the country on vacation and buy real estate in many prestigious places.
Police told Reuters they were trying to establish the real owner. Shaherazade “, which is registered in the Cayman Islands and was built by the German company” Lurssen “(Lurssen).
The yacht, delivered to its mysterious owner in 2020, has two helipads and can accommodate 18 guests and 40 crew members.
The organization was founded by prisoner Alexei Navalny , a fierce critic of Putin. , published a report in March stating that it had evidence that the yacht belonged to Putin.
According to this report, many members of the yacht's crew were recruited from the Federal Security Service of Russia (FTS), which to protect the President of Russia.
Read also: Putin's oligarch's yacht detained in Fiji – Reuters
The Kremlin did not respond to a request to comment on whether Putin owned the yacht and whether the FST staff were members of its crew .
It will be recalled that the United States and its allies have begun a hunt for money, real estate, yachts and other valuables of Russian oligarchs close to Putin. In particular, a number of Swiss banks are targeted, where hundreds of billions of dollars of looted (in the wording of the Helsinki Commission) money can be stored.
