More than 100 Russian yachts already seized; others head to Crimea

The Russian-controlled Crimean peninsula appears to be increasingly promoted as a haven for oligarchs seeking to escape Western sanctions, IBI News reports. Sergei Aksyonov, the Russian-backed Crimean authority, has stated that Russian yachts could use Crimean waters to avoid sanctions and arrests by police and state regulators throughout the world.

According to Aksyonov, some Russian yachts have already entered the Black Sea and there is a strong possibility that this number will increase significantly in the coming weeks as a large number of Russian-owned yachts under sanctions have already sailed for the Crimean peninsula and its inland waters. He believes that number will only increase with the planned adoption of the fifth package of sanctions by the European Union against certain Russian individuals. It appears that more than 30 Russian-owned superyachts have already left the Mediterranean for the Black Sea, heading for the Crimea and Novorossiysk peninsulas. Currently, Crimea remains probably the only option for Russian yacht owners eager to get out of the network of Western investigations.

Analysts expect superyacht owners to use Crimean ports as they wait for sanctions to be lifted in the coming years to ease tensions. Plan B would require the sale of many superyachts to Asian or Western clients.

Seizures of vessels owned by sanctioned Russians are under way. The IBI also reports that more than 20 yachts have been seized this week in Finland. Since the beginning of the war, more than 100 Russian yachts have been seized in the EU, and three have been seized in Croatia. These vessels are located in the marina Betina, in ACI Skradin and in the Port of Rijeka.