Russia sanctions: maintenance costs millions – USA wants to sell oligarch yacht

Enlarge image

Luxury yacht “Amadea”: Hardly fits in the photo

Photo: MARCO GARCIA / REUTERS

Luxury yachts are a symbol of excessive wealth - and as such are theoretically well suited to implementing sanctions with publicity.

This is what happened in the case of the “Amadea,” which was confiscated in Fiji in 2022 with the help of the FBI.

The showboat is attributed to Putin confidant Suleiman Kerimov.

This has been on the sanctions list in the USA for money laundering since 2018, but was also sanctioned by the European Union and other countries in the wake of the Ukraine war.

But the “Amadea” is now causing a lot of trouble for the US authorities.

And at considerable cost.

The 106 meter long boat is moored in the port of San Diego, California.

According to the US authorities, this costs taxpayers almost a million US dollars a month.

Specifically, including insurance, it is $922,000 per month, as the US broadcaster CNN reports. 

The criminal authorities have therefore now turned to a judge.

They ask for permission to sell the ship.

The market value is estimated at 230 million US dollars.

“It is excessive to impose these costs on taxpayers when they could be reduced to zero through a sale,” writes the US Marshall Service in its application.

However, another oligarch, Eduard Khudainatov, has now laid claim to the yacht.

He is the former head of the Russian oil producer Rosneft, and is offering to pay back the costs of maintenance.

He is not on the sanctions list and wants to stop sales.

However, there are suspicions that Khudainatov is merely acting as a front man for Suleiman Kerimov.

Excitement about discovery on board

The “Amadea” hit the headlines as early as July 2022.

At that time, US authorities reported that they may have discovered a rare Fabergé egg during the search.

Fabergé eggs are jewelry items that were created by the jeweler of the same name in Saint Petersburg for the Russian royal family and other empires starting in 1885.

Only around 50 of the eggs were made.

They are considered the epitome of luxury and are extremely valuable.

In addition to the “Amadea,” the USA had confiscated other luxury yachts since March 2022, shortly after the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

These included the ships of oligarchs Viktor Vekselberg, Gennady Timchenko and Igor Sechin.

yikes