$81 million superyacht up for auction
The $81million superyacht, believed to be owned by a sanctioned Russian oligarch according to Western media, will be auctioned off by the government of the island nation of Antigua and Barbuda, which says the vessel was abandoned in the Caribbean after the last Ukrainian conflict. year.
The government of Antigua and Barbuda warned the owner of superyacht Alfa Nero on Monday that he has 10 days to claim the vessel or it will be sold to the highest bidder.
The island nation’s Information Minister, Melford Nicholas, said the yacht Alfa Nero had been abandoned in Antigua’s Falmouth harbor since February 2022 and the government was “trying to avoid future danger as the ship from luxury is not maintained by its owner”.
A statement from the office of the Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda said: “Within 10 days, a notice will be published in newspapers and other media regarding the sale of the vessel Alfa Nero in order to meet the requirements of the law on the forced sale If the owner does not claim the vessel within this time, the government of Antigua and Barbuda will sell it to the highest bidder.
According to The Guardian, the owner of Alfa Nero, according to the US government, which imposed sanctions on it last year, is Russian Andrey Guryev. The US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) said it had “identified Alfa Nero, a Cayman Islands-flagged yacht that AG Guryev allegedly purchased for $120 million in 2014, as blocked property of AG Guriev”.
The yacht, writes The Guardian, has a 12-meter infinity pool, jacuzzi, spa, beauty salon and helipad. At the same time, as The Guardian notes, Guryev denies ownership of the vessel.
Guryev, who was sanctioned by the UK government in April 2022, is also believed to be the owner of London’s largest private residence, the 25-bedroom Highgate Mansion in Witanhurst, according to OFAC.
The property is officially owned by Boradge Ltd, a company registered in the British Virgin Islands, writes The Guardian. Guryev’s London lawyers said “Mr Guryev does not own Witanhurst”, without providing further details. Guryev’s spokesperson previously told The New Yorker that he was the beneficiary of a trust that owns the property, but not the legal owner.
Gibraltar last year auctioned the £65million superyacht Axioma, owned by a sanctioned Russian billionaire, The Guardian notes.
