Media: sanctions force Russian oligarchs to sell their yachts
Russian billionaire oligarchs Alexander Mamut and Vasily Anisimov, the 42nd and 68th richest Russian citizens according to Forbes are hurrying to sell their yachts, reported Russian news agency Primechaniya.
Mamut sold his elite yacht Kibo for 129 million dollars. The new owner whose name is unknown rechristened the yacht Grace. It is now sailing in the Gibraltar. The vessel was originally built in a German shipyard in 2014. Among its luxurious furnishings is a table covered with leather made from the skin of fugu, a poisonous blowfish.
Tycoon Vladimir Potanin also sold his yacht this summer and then put up two more yachts for sale. The billionaire Igor Makarov, 46th place on Forbes’s richest Russians list is trying to sell his yacht for 175 million dollars.
The news agency notes that these billionaires are selling off “floating assets” to increase liquidity in the face of growing macroeconomic risks, and that the current conjuncture of market prices allegedly makes yacht trading a profitable business. The Russian oligarchs are also afraid to lose their yachts to permanent sanctions.