Sanctions against Russia: the yachts of the oligarchs in the sights of Western countries

The mega-yacht Amore Vero was seized on Wednesday evening in the La Ciotat shipyard in the south of France.

AFP - NICOLAS TUCAT

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Among the economic sanctions against Russia, the West is attacking the oligarchs and various billionaires close to President Vladimir Putin.

This Thursday, a mega-yacht was seized by the French authorities. 

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With a length of 86 meters, with a swimming pool that can be transformed into a helipad, and a value that would rise to 120 million dollars, the

is quite a catch for French customs.

The mega-yacht was seized overnight from Wednesday to Thursday in the La Ciotat shipyard (south).

The Minister of the Economy, Bruno Le Maire, welcomed this seizure.

And for good reason: this is a new step in the hunt for the assets of Russian oligarchs.

The yacht belongs to a company linked to Igor Setchine, boss of the Russian oil group Rosneft, considered one of the leaders of the "siloviki" clan, a word which designates senior officials from the security services and loyal to the Kremlin. since the 1990s. The boat was blocked while it " 

 ", said French Minister of Public Accounts Olivier Dussopt, who is responsible for customs. .

The fifth ship intercepted in France

Since the announcement of sanctions against

, it is the fifth Russian ship to be intercepted in France, after in particular a merchant ship in the Channel and a freighter in Marseille.

But with the yachts, true symbols of massive enrichment, the oligarchy is directly targeted.

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, the German authorities carried out a similar operation in the port of Hamburg with the seizure of the

.

Owned by the Russian-Uzbek oligarch Alisher Ousmanov, this mega-yacht bought for the modest sum of 600 million dollars is considered the largest yacht in the world.

European

target nearly 500 Russian personalities or entities, whose assets and economic resources must be gradually frozen as European states manage to locate them and link them to their owners.

The owners of these yachts are now trying to evade sanctions and the Maldives seem to represent a base for their ships in recent days, having no extradition treaty to the United States.

Several yachts were thus spotted on the spot.

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(

AFP)

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