Russian Oligarch Igor Sechin’s Super Yacht Seized In France As Ukraine Sanctions Take Effect

Four cargo ships and one yacht belonging to Russian business tycoons were seized by customs officials in France, as the U.S. and European Union attempt to assist  governments in putting pressure on the richest people in Russia in response to the country’s invasion of Ukraine.

The Amore Velo super yacht, owned by Rosneft Oil Company boss Igor Sechin, began attempting to cast off from the port of La Ciotat shipyards on the southern French Coast when an investigation by authorities began. Sechin was one of several Russian oligarchs named in a list by the European Union who will be subjects of tight sanctions due to the invasion. He was also once a former deputy prime minister in the Kremlin before taking over Rosneft, and the E.U. document identified Sechin as one of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “most trusted and closest advisors.”

Sechin was not on the super yacht, which was supposed to be in France until April 1 for repairs. A spokesperson for Rosneft said on behalf of Sechin that he didn’t own the yacht in question. French officials added that over 500 other people in the country could be subject to similar asset freezes in the future.

Many yachts that avoided seizure in E.U. countries are now reportedly gathering in The Maldives, where they can, wait out sanctions as long as they want since the U.S. doesn’t have an extradition treaty with the island nation.

The U.S. is now catching up on the E.U. with sanctions of its own that were put in place Thursday. The measures targeted at least eight different Russians and their families and included freezing their U.S. financial assets and property along with imposing visa restrictions on them.

The oligarchs listed by the U.S. sanctions are prominent in Russian politics and industry and include Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, energy CEO Niklay Tarokev, sibling billionaires Boris and Arkady Rotenberg, and financier Yevigeniy Prizoghin behind the Internet Research Agency.