A Russian Oligarch's Confiscated Yacht Just Sold For $37.5 Million to an Unknown Buyer It features a pool, six bedrooms, a movie room, a steam room, and sauna.
By Gabrielle Bienasz •
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After Russia invaded Ukraine in February, regulators all over the world moved to confiscate what assets they could find belonging to Russian oligarchs, including superyachts and villas.
The first yacht seized as a part of this effort was sold at auction Tuesday, according to The Guardian.
The yacht is called the Axioma, and it was owned by Dmitry Pumpyansky. He made his fortune in pipes in Russia and has a net worth of $2 billion, according to Forbes.
Pumpyansky was sanctioned by the EU and the U.S. As a result, he's no longer a beneficiary of the pipe manufacturer company he founded, TMK, Interfax said in May.
JPMorgan Chase & Co asked the court in Gibraltar, a British territory on the southern tip of Spain, to detain the yacht earlier this year, saying it was asserting its rights as the guarantor of the mortgage on the vessel.
The bank put the yacht up for auction in August, attracting 63 bids, which then had to be verified, hence the delay in finalizing the sale.
The Axioma is 263 feet, putting it in the middling sizes of the mega-yacht set. Thought to be the longest in the world is the Dilbar, at 511 feet, linked to oligarch Alisher Usmanov (but was seized).
The Axioma has four places to hang out outside of the boat, a pool, six bedrooms, a movie room, and a steam room and sauna, according to YachtCharterFleet.
The price to rent it out is $432,000 a week before expenses, like food and drink.
The sale was run by the Office Of The Admiralty Marshal, which is a part of the supreme court of Gibraltar. It gave a statement to the Guardian confirming the sale and that the identity of the buyer would not be shared:
"The Admiralty Marshal has today sold the MY Axioma following payment into court of $37.5m by the successful bidder… The bid was selected after completion of an enhanced due diligence process, but the Admiralty Marshal will not be disclosing the identity of the buyer."
JP Morgan also says that Pumpyansky owns the bank over 20 million euros.
But the money isn't going to Ukraine. After assets the world over began to be seized, the EU looked into ways to use the funds to help Ukraine, and the U.S. House passed a bill to that effect (but it is languishing in the Senate).
Nigel Hollyer, Partner at Howe Robinson Partners, which was involved with the sale, previously said international law didn't allow for this money to just be transferred to Ukraine, per SuperYacht Times.
"Any surplus after JP Morgan's mortgage has been paid off and the cost of arrest will go into an account at the Supreme Court of Gibraltar, and frozen until the sanctions are sorted. It's not going to Ukraine because the law doesn't allow it. It is going to be put into an account and frozen," he said.
