Russian Oligarch’s Seized Yacht Requires $7 Million Annual Maintenance, According to US Reporting

By Luc Cohen

NEW YORK – The U.S. government announced it is spending over $7 million annually to maintain a superyacht it seized from a sanctioned Russian oligarch, urging a judge to allow it to auction the vessel before the ownership dispute is settled.

Authorities in Fiji confiscated the 348-foot (106-meter), $300 million Amadea in May 2022, following a U.S. warrant that stated the yacht was owned by Suleiman Kerimov, a multibillionaire sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department in 2014 and 2018 due to Russia’s actions in Syria and Ukraine.

The effort to auction the yacht is facing opposition from Eduard Khudainatov, who previously led the Russian state oil and gas company Rosneft from 2010 to 2013. Khudainatov claims to own the Amadea and argues it cannot be forfeited since he himself has not been sanctioned.

In a court filing late Friday, federal prosecutors in Manhattan conveyed to U.S. District Judge Dale Ho that the $600,000 average monthly maintenance cost for the Amadea is "excessive," warranting an auction. They also stated that negotiations for Khudainatov to cover the yacht’s upkeep have fallen through.

Previous filings indicated that Khudainatov is acting as a "straw owner" to conceal Kerimov’s involvement and that maintenance expenditures are crucial for maintaining the yacht’s value.

Khudainatov has until February 23 to respond to the prosecutors’ request. His legal team described the motion to sell the yacht as "premature," urging the judge to deny it until he evaluates whether the seizure was unconstitutional.

The vessel’s seizure occurred as Washington intensified sanctions enforcement against individuals close to President Vladimir Putin in an effort to compel Moscow to cease its actions in Ukraine.

If the sale of the yacht proceeds successfully, it is expected that the proceeds would ultimately be directed to Ukraine.

Prosecutors have asserted that Kerimov violated U.S. sanctions by processing over $1 million in maintenance payments for the Amadea through the U.S. financial system, making the yacht, currently docked in San Diego, subject to forfeiture.

According to Forbes magazine, Kerimov and his family’s net worth stands at $10.7 billion, primarily derived from his involvement in the Russian gold mining company Polyus, although he is no longer a shareholder.