The government of the island nation in the Caribbean Sea of Antigua and Barbuda intends to auction the Alfa Nero superyacht, which the US authorities consider the owner of the Russian billionaire Andrey Guryev. The British newspaper The Guardian writes about this, citing a statement from the Office of the Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda, Gaston Brown. The yacht has been in harbor in Antigua since February 2022.
It notes that a notice about the sale of Alfa Nero “under the forced sale law” will be published in local media 10 days before the auction. “If the owner of the vessel does not show up within this period, the government of Antigua and Barbuda will sell it to the highest bidder,” the statement said on Monday, March 6.
In turn, the Minister of Information, Broadcasting, Telecommunications and Information Technology of the Caribbean state Melford Nicholas said that the yacht has been abandoned in the port of Falmouth in Antigua since February 2022. He added that the government is “trying to avert a future danger as the luxury vessel is not maintained by its owner.” The newspaper valued the superyacht at $81 million. According to the Office of Foreign Assets Control of the US Treasury Department (OFAC), Alfa Nero was acquired by Guryev in 2014 for $120 million.
Kommersant.ru, 03/07/2023, “Alfa Nero leaves for auction”: At the same time, Alfa Nero itself was not arrested, said Kira Vinokurova, special adviser on sanctions issues at the Pen & Paper Bar Association: “Perhaps, by analogy with an ownerless thing, after a certain time the yacht is considered to belong to the state. However, it is unclear where the money will go next. Most likely the government too. At the same time, the owner of the yacht himself can still claim restitution, but then he will have to open up. We know that the scheme of ownership of such expensive objects is structured in a completely opaque way and can be formalized through 10 companies and trusts. So, perhaps, the risks from such a step will be much higher than the cost of the vessel. After all, then there will be close attention to all these players, questions will arise about circumventing sanctions, and so on.” — Inset K.ru
The government of Antigua and Barbuda has asked local residents to refrain from any kind of business relationship with Alfa Nero, since March 2022 it has stopped receiving service at the port. In August 2022, FBI agents interrogated the crew and searched the yacht. The yacht with a 12-meter pool, jacuzzi, spa, beauty salon and helipad was used by the Guryev family, including his son Andrei and his wife Valeria, who studied at the London College of Fashion, writes The Guardian.
The businessman himself denies that he is the owner of the ship.
IA “RBC”, 03/07/2023, “The authorities of Antigua and Barbuda decided to sell the yacht of the “Russian oligarch”: The fact that the ship belongs to the entrepreneur was also written Forbes And Observer. He himself denies that he is the owner of Alfa Nero. In 2015, a representative of the billionaire said that Guryev did not own the ship, but ““regularly rents” his. — Inset K.ru
@CorruptionTV, 23.08.2022, 18:35: Andrey Guryev was on the US sanctions list only August 2nd. The US Department of Justice immediately identified the Alfa Nero yacht as an asset subject to seizure. […] 10 days after the imposition of sanctions, the US authorities sent a request for mutual assistance to the government of the Caribbean state. After that, permission was obtained through the court to conduct a search and interrogate the team. According to local media, the ship has no way to leave the port, as local service providers have been instructed not to refuel and prepare the ship for sailing. Shortly before the imposition of sanctions on the yacht, the transponder was turned off, transmitting a signal about the location of the vessel.
Interestingly, a week before the imposition of sanctions against Guryev, two ships belonging to Roman Abramovich: 180m yacht Halo and service vessel Garcon. Despite requests from the British authorities for the arrest of the yacht and support vessel, the government of Antigua and Barbuda did not arrest them. It should be recalled that Roman Arkadyevich is fighting in Washington with the involvement of American lobbyists in order to prevent the introduction of US sanctions against him. — Inset K.ru
Guriev, according to OFAC, is also the owner of the largest private residences in London: Highgate mansion with 25 bedrooms. The mansion is officially owned by Boradge Ltd, a company registered in the British Virgin Islands. London lawyers for the businessman told the newspaper that Guryev is not the owner of this property. Guryev’s spokesman previously told The New Yorker that the businessman was the beneficiary of a trust that owns the property, but not the owner of the mansion.
The fortune of the former member of the board of directors of PhosAgro in the Forbes rating for 2022 was estimated at $ 4.8 billion. Co-owners of PhosAgro Andrey Guryev and Andrey Guryev Jr. fell under US sanctions in early August. In November, the companies Hlodwig and Adorabella were included in the SDN list – through them, Andrey Guryev Sr. and his family own a stake in Phosagro. In April, it was reported that Guryev Sr. and his family re-registered these companies under Russian jurisdiction – they became residents of a special administrative region (SAR) on Oktyabrsky Island (Kaliningrad Region).
In March 2022, the EU published a new sanctions list approved by the countries of the bloc in response to Russia’s “military special operation” in Ukraine. It included Andrey Guryev Jr. He resigned from the post of CEO of Phosagro, the company’s press service told Forbes. Mikhail Rybnikov, who had previously been Guryev’s deputy, was appointed to the post of general director. Guryev-son, his father and the Frenchman Xavier Role left the board of directors of the company. In April, Great Britain imposed sanctions against Guryev Sr.
*According to the requirement of Roskomnadzor, when preparing materials on a special operation in eastern Ukraine, all Russian media are required 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.