- Scheherazade, a $700 million superyacht linked to Russian President Putin, is being refitted in Italy.
- Italy seized the yacht in 2022 following sweeping sanctions towards Russia over the Ukraine conflict.
- The unnamed proprietor of the yacht is paying for the vessel’s workers, upkeep, and refit.
A $700 million superyacht reportedly linked to Russian President Vladimir Putin is sitting in an Italian port and being refitted on the unnamed proprietor’s dime, the Monetary Instances reported Sunday.
Italy seized the Scheherazade superyacht in Could final yr however has allowed its unnamed sanctioned proprietor to proceed paying for the vessel’s workers, upkeep — and a refit — whereas it sits within the Tuscan port of Marina di Carrara, the FT reported.
The 459-foot, four-year-old vessel options six flooring, two helipads, a swimming pool, a magnificence salon, and gold-plated loos, per the FT and an Insider report.
It is now being refurbished by the Milan-listed Italian Sea Group, which confirmed the refit to the FT. The corporate declined to supply additional particulars — together with possession — to the media outlet.
Individuals with information of the matter informed the FT that the proprietor of the Scheherazade yacht is Eduard Khudainatov, the sanctioned former CEO of Russian state oil firm Rosneft.
Nevertheless, the oligarch is merely the “straw proprietor” of the vessel, Bloomberg reported in Could final yr.
US authorities imagine the superyacht may belong to Putin, The New York Instances reported in March final yr.
Two activists working with the imprisoned Putin opponent Alexei Navalny claimed final March that among the ship’s crew members are from a Russian state company chargeable for defending Putin. The Kremlin denied these allegations per the FT.
The Scheherazade is without doubt one of the many luxurious property which have been seized by the West following sweeping sanctions towards Russia over the Ukraine conflict that began in February 2022. Different Russian oligarch-linked yachts which have been seized embrace the $81 million Alfa Nero and the $48 million Phi.
The Kremlin and Italian Sea Group didn’t instantly reply to requests for remark from Insider despatched exterior common enterprise hours.
