Maintaining a megayacht seized by U.S. authorities from a Russian oligarch is costing the government nearly $1 million a month, according to new court documents.
The US Justice Department is seeking permission to sell a 348-foot yacht called Amadea, which it seized in 2022, claiming it was owned by sanctioned Russian billionaire Suleiman Kerimov. The government said it wants to sell the yacht for $230 million because of “excessive costs” for maintenance and crew, which it said could add up to $922,000 a month.
“It is excessive for taxpayers to pay almost a million dollars a month to maintain Amadea when these expenses could be reduced to zero through [a] sale,” according to a court document filed Friday by U.S. prosecutors.
Monthly charges for Amadea, which is now docked in San Diego, California, include $600,000 a month in operating costs: $360,000 for the crew; $75,000 for fuel; and $165,000 for maintenance, waste removal, food and other expenses. They also include $144,000 in prorated monthly insurance costs and special charges including drydocking fees, to $178,000, bringing the total to $922,000, according to the filing.
The battle over Amadea and the costs to the government highlight the financial and legal challenges of seizing and selling assets owned by Russian oligarchs after the country's invasion of Ukraine. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said last week that the European Union should use the proceeds of more than $200 billion from frozen Russian assets to finance Ukraine's war effort.
His comments echoed calls by the government in spring 2022 to freeze the yachts, private planes and mansions of Russian billionaires in hopes of putting pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin and raising money for the war effort.
However, almost two years later, the legal process to prove ownership of Russian assets and sell them has proven to be much slower and more expensive. In London, Russian billionaire Eugene Shvidler has waged a court battle over the seizure of his private jet, and Sergei Naumenko has been appealing the arrest of his Phi superyacht.
Sanctioned Russian oligarch Suleiman Kerimov's Amadea megayacht, seized by the Fijian government at the request of the United States, arrives at the port of Honolulu, Hawaii, on June 16, 2022.
Eugenio Tanner | AFP | fake images
The battle over Amadea began in April 2022, when it was seized in Fiji at the request of the United States government, according to court documents.
Although the United States alleges that the yacht is owned by Kerimov, who made his fortune in mining, lawyers for Eduard Khudainatov, a former Rosneft CEO who has not been sanctioned, say he is the owner of the yacht and have tried to recover possession of it. vessel.
In court papers, Khudainatov's lawyers have objected to the U.S. government's efforts to sell the yacht, saying that a rushed sale could lead to a deteriorating sales price and that maintenance costs are minor relative to the potential sale value.
Khudainatov's lawyers refuse to pay current holding costs while the government pursues the sale and forfeiture. However, they say his client will reimburse the US government for the more than $20 million already spent to maintain the yacht if she returns it to its owner.
In court documents, the government says Kerimov concealed his ownership of Amadea through a series of shell companies and other owners. They say emails between crew members show Kerimov “was the beneficial owner of the yacht, independently of the ship's owner.”
The emails show that Kerimov and his family ordered several interior upgrades to the yacht, including a new pizza oven and a spa, and that between 2021 and 2022, when the ship was seized, “there were no guest voyages on the Amadea that were not including Kerimov or his family members,” according to court documents.
The government also says Kerimov has been trying to sell Amadea for years, so a sale would be in line with his intentions.
“This is not a situation in which a court would order the sale of a precious relic that a plaintiff desperately wants to keep for sentimental reasons,” the government said in documents.
Even if Amadea were sold quickly, the profits would not automatically go to the government. Under the law, the money will be held while Khudainatov and the government continue their court battle over ownership and forfeiture.
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