What has two helipads and no longer belongs to an oligarch? This yacht.
Authorities in Germany have seized Russian oligarch Alisher Usmanov’s 500-foot megayacht, the Dilbar, as part of the package of sanctions against the Kremlin and its supporters, Forbes magazine reported.
The ship was taken by authorities in the north German port of Hamburg on Wednesday. The megayacht is estimated to be worth $600 million.
Usmanov, 68, is an iron and steel magnate estimated to be worth $16 billion. He is also close with Russian President Vladimir Putin and has allegedly functioned as the strongman’s business advisor.
The billionaire is among the Russian businessmen targeted by European Union sanctions over Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, which entered its seventh day of bloody fighting on Wednesday.
The Dilbar is reportedly the world’s largest yacht by gross tonnage. With 12 guest suites, a crew of at least 80, a sauna, a gym, and the largest swimming pool ever installed on a yacht, the ship is said to cost $60 million a year just to keep afloat.
Reportedly one of Usmanov’s prized possessions, the Dilbar was custom-built to his specifications by German shipwright Lurssen. Completed in 2016, the ship took over four years to build.
Usmanov’s pride and joy was a sitting duck for authorities — it’s been in the German port since last year for a refit.
But other oligarchs have been sending their boats to sunnier ports — or at least those of the few nations where sanctions can’t touch them — according to a report by CNBC.
The US is expected to join the EU in seizing Russian assets soon — President Joe Biden addressed the oligarchs directly in Tuesday’s State of the Union address, saying “we are joining with our European allies to find and seize your yachts, your luxury apartments, your private jets. We are coming for your ill-begotten gains.”
