Italian police have seized a super yacht belonging to Russian billionaire Andrey Igorevich Melnichenko, days after the businessman was added to an EU sanctions list following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Citing Reuters (13/3), Sailing Yacht A as high as 143 meters which is priced at 530 million euros or the equivalent of US $ 578 million has been isolated in the northern port of Trieste. The ship is the world's largest sailing yacht designed by Philippe Starck and built by Nobiskrug in Germany.
Meanwhile, Melnichenko himself is the owner of the main fertilizer producer EuroChem Group and the coal company SUEK.
The company said in a statement on Thursday that it had stepped down as a board member at both companies.
"There is no justification whatsoever for placing it on the EU sanctions list. We will debate these unfounded and unjustified sanctions, and believe that the rule of law and common sense will prevail," said Melnichenko's spokesman, Alex Andreev.
Not only Melnichenko's property, Italian police have also confiscated villas and yachts since last week worth more than 700 million euros or the equivalent of US $ 763.63 million from famous Russian people who have been included in the EU sanctions list,
The police operation is part of a coordinated effort by Western countries to punish wealthy Russians whom they say are linked to President Vladimir Putin. "So far we have achieved what was seen, now we have to achieve the rest such as share ownership," said Giuseppe Zafarana, head of Italy's tax police.
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