On August 23, Daffodil Day and Memorial Day of Victims of Totalitarianism, the first seized megayacht owned by a Russian oligarch will change hands.
Dmitry Pumpyansky, the sanctioned Russian billionaire oligarch and long-time CEO of the OAO TMK pipe factory, which supplies the oil and gas industry, among others, has had one of his favorite toys taken away from him.
At 12 noon, high noon, Howe Robinson Partners in Gibraltar will be auctioning off the 72.50 meter long Axioma, which Pumpyansky acquired shortly after its completion in 2013.
At that time, the ship built by Dunya Yachts in Istanbul was still called Red Square.
The background to the auction is allegedly not just Pumpyansky's existence as an oligarch.
The whole thing is said to be a little more complicated and to go back to a high million dollar loan from JP Morgan Chase.
The borrower, it is said, is Pyrene Investments and thus the Cypriot Furdberg Holding, which belongs to Pumpyansky's trust.
Payments to JP Morgan were therefore no longer possible because of the sanction, and that is why the bank pushed for the conversion of real assets.
The whole procedure obviously has economic reasons above all, even if the public perception will be different.
It will also be interesting to see who will add such a ship to their portfolio.
As a European (we're leaving out a few countries here), Americans or Australians, can you sit at an on-board bar with a clear conscience,
where perhaps Vladimir and Sergei have already sipped their vodka?
Whoever buys the yacht will not place himself at the top of Pumpyansky's popularity list.
In any case, there is no minimum bid.