The world's largest superyacht is confiscated by German authoritiesIt is the superyacht belongs to the Russian millionaire Alisher Usmanov, who has strong ties to Vladimir Putin.
This article was translated from ourSpanish edition.
Russian millionairesare having a hard time due to sanctions imposed by Europe and the United States on ultra-rich Russians who have close ties to President Vladimir Putin. This time Russian billionaireAlisher Usmanovwas stripped of a luxury superyacht in Germany.
Hamburg authorities seized theDilbar superyachtafter determining that it was, in fact, the legal property of his sister,Gulbakhor Ismailova. Another billionaire who is also subject to Western sanctions for the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The yacht is named after their mother of these wealthy brothers. Usmanov owns a major stake inUSM, a Russian investment group with stakes in Metalloinvest, one of the world's largest iron ore producers, and the telecommunications companyMegaFon.
Furthermore, he is the sixth richest Russian with a fortune of $19 billion, according to theBloomberg BillionairesIndex.
It should be noted that superyachts and other displays of wealth among Russia's elite have drawn especially intense scrutiny after Russia declared war on Ukraine.
Germany's federal crime office said on Wednesday that despite efforts at what it called "concealment on the high seas," it had managed to identify the yacht's owner, Usmanov's sister.
In a tweet the German authority stated: "The luxury yacht Dilbar is therefore subject to the sanctions law and could be legally seized in Hamburg." And once this luxury yacht has been seized it cannot be "sold, leased or pledged as collateral".
But what does the most luxurious yacht in the world look like?
The 156-meter (512-foot) vessel, the largest in existence by volume, had been refitted in the northern German port city. With a 25-meter swimming pool and two helipads, it is valued at between $600 million and $750 million, according to the US Treasury.
