Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich has several previously undeclared assets, according to the Organized Crime and Corruption Investigation Center (OCCRP), whose founder in Russia was included in the register of foreign and international non-governmental organizations whose activities were deemed undesirable. He and his partners, including Forbes USA, referred to the data they received. Abramovich owns at least 10 more yachts and vessels through offshore companies and trust funds, in addition to six yachts worth at least $1 billion, according to the data.
The documents were issued by MeritServus, a Cypriot company providing corporate services to Russian businessmen, and initially were sent to The Guardian — the newspaper’s editors received them from an anonymous third-party source. According to the publication, it follows from them that in February 2022, just three weeks before the start of the “special operation” * and a month before the businessman was included in the UK and EU sanctions lists, Abramovich handed over owning 10 offshore trust funds with billions of dollars in assets, including the trust that manages his yachts and private jets, to his seven children.
Forbes USA counted 10 boats owned by Abramovich that were not previously associated with him, and now their total number is 16. Eight boats are small boats that, according to journalists, are “used to service” the 162-meter Eclipse megayachts for $427 million, which Abramovich built in 2010. Eclipse is now docked in Bodrum, Turkey, and three more of the billionaire’s yachts — the $475 million 140-meter Solaris, $38 million 55-meter Halo and $20 million 67-meter Garcon — are nearby along Turkey’s Mediterranean coast to the west. A spokesman for Abramovich did not respond to a request for comment.
In addition to the eight service vessels, the documents also show that Abramovich owns a boat called the Umbra A, which, according to a 2016 report, is worth approximately $1 million. , according to experts from the agency VesselsValue, is about $ 3 million. The vessel is registered in Bermuda and has been in the overseas possession of France Saint-Barthélemy since the beginning of November. On French territory, Abramovich is not a stranger, because there he owns two propertiesone of which the authorities of the country in April arrested.
This means that Kewpie is also at risk of being arrested, because the yacht is moored in France, and Abramovich is under European Union sanctions. Vessels in Turkey, which has not imposed sanctions on Russia, are not at risk. And the Kewpie isn’t the only ship the Russian tycoon has trouble with. His $11 million, 49m yacht Sussurro has been moored in La Ciotat on the French Riviera for almost a year.
Another yacht, the $30 million 50m Aquamarine, is apparently still in the Netherlands. Its main owner is a company in the Virgin Islands, the ownership of which Abramovich transferred on February 24, 2022 to a business partner David Davidovich.
For their yachts and other assets like four aircraft, six helicopters and luxurious villas Abramovich has built a complex structure of offshore legal entities. Ownership of its fleet of vehicles of 16 ships and 10 aircraft, estimated at $1.6 billion in total, is divided among several firms in offshore zones, including the Virgin Islands, Aruba, and the Isle of Man and Jersey, all of these territories are famous for their confidentiality and low tax rates. According to leak documents and arrest warrant for two planes Abramovich, which was issued in June by the US Department of Justice, all these assets, with the exception of Aquamarine, belong to the Cypriot fund Europa Settlement Trust.
Until February 4, 2022, Roman Abramovich was the only beneficiary of the trust fund. However, on that day, two representatives of the billionaire (David Davidovich and Tatyana Khaikina) issued a document in which his seven children were declared additional beneficiaries. Four days later, the name of Abramovich was removed from the document altogether, and the trust, along with a collection of yachts and aircraft, went to his children. The final edits were made by February 24th.
Despite changes in trust fund ownership, Forbes still lists Abramovich as a billionaire and estimates his finances at $8.7 billion. Although the mega-yachts and jets are now formally owned by the oligarch’s children, he still keeps the assets under his own control: March 14 Abramovich flew on his Gulfstream G650 from Israel to Istanbul, and the next day went to Moscow.
* According to the requirement of Roskomnadzor, when preparing materials on a special operation in eastern Ukraine, all Russian media are obliged to use information only from official sources of the Russian Federation. We cannot publish materials in which the ongoing operation is called an “attack”, “invasion” or “declaration of war”, unless it is a direct quote (Article 57 of the Federal Law on the Media). In case of violation of the requirement, the media may be fined 5 million rubles, and the publication may also be blocked.
