Why the oligarchs are abandoning their yachts
The authorities of Antigua and Barbuda have decided to auction the Alfa Nero yacht in the harbor if its owner does not appear soon. The American authorities consider the owner of Alfa Nero to be the owner of PhosAgro, Andrey Guryev, but the billionaire himself claims that he has nothing to do with the ship. At one time, the yacht was bought for $120 million. What can prompt you to easily give up such a fabulous amount?
The superyacht has been in harbor on the island of Antigua since February 2022. According to local authorities, she will now be forcibly sold, since for a year now, as a vessel, in fact, remains ownerless. There is a small part of the team on it that maintains the viability of the ship, but these efforts are not enough to prevent the possible danger posed to the environment and port infrastructure by the lack of proper maintenance of the giant (Alfa Nero is 82 meters long, it is included in the top 100 best yachts in the world) ship .
There are reasons for such an approach. A yacht that has not been properly maintained may well be torn off its moorings during a storm, and it is not known what damage such an emergency will bring, since the insurance company may refuse to pay, citing the lack of a full crew. In addition, the yacht consumes electricity and water from the shore, for which you also have to pay, and at the same time takes up space in the harbor. Equally important is the potential benefit. It is known that at one time the construction of Alfa Nero cost 120 million dollars. However, the secret of the situation is that today the yacht can cost even more. As experts explain, ships of this class are usually built to order and the customer has to wait several years until the shipyard realizes his fantasies. Therefore, the opportunity to become the owner of a superyacht equipped with a heliport, a 12-meter pool, a jacuzzi, a gym and a spa right now is more expensive. At an auction for an ownerless ship, it will obviously be possible to get good money.
Another question, for what reason did Alfa Nero turn out to be ownerless? US authorities claim that the yacht belongs to Andrey Guryev, who ranks 24th in the list of the richest people in Russia. Last summer, FBI agents searched the ship and interrogated the crew members, after which they once again stated: the billionaire and his family were resting on the ship! However, Andrey Guryev insists: Alfa Nero does not belong to him, he only rented it.
Imagine theoretically what prevents you from taking and declaring directly: they say, yes, my yacht, I am the owner. After all, in this case, you do not have to lose the ship. However, lawyers believe that perhaps the problem here is that the refusal of anonymity can be more expensive. “We know that the scheme of ownership of such expensive objects is structured in a completely non-transparent 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, ”Kira Vinokurova, a representative of the Pen & Paper Bar Association, is quoted by Kommersant. And Andrey Guryev is already under sanctions, so he clearly does not need extra attention. About PhosAgro, which is one of the world’s largest producers of phosphate fertilizers, it has been written more than once that it resembles a nesting doll – it is so packed into offshore. In April last year, the companies through which Guryev and members of his family own a stake in PhosAgro were re-registered under Russian jurisdiction, but hardly anyone can know for sure what and where the “king of fertilizers” reliably hid from prying eyes. In addition, it is not clear when the situation will improve and the yacht can be used again. And the annual maintenance of such a ship costs 10-15% of its total cost. It won’t work without spending money – in general, without maintenance, a yacht can become unusable in a year. So it’s better to lose less than to end up losing more.
Before, foreign authorities have already sold yachts attributed to the Russians. So, last fall, the yacht Axioma went under the hammer for $ 37.5 million – Dmitry Pumpyansky was called its owner. In total, about 40 yachts are under arrest in European ports, which are associated with the Russians. In Finland alone, 21 ships were arrested.