What is Roman Abramovich's fleet of luxury yachts valued at USD 1 billion

Roman Abramovich is not simply the owner of the Chelsea football club or one of the richest men in the world. According to Maria Konstantinovna Pevchikh, head of the research unit of the Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK), “he is the most faithful and devoted of the oligarchs of Putin”.

In addition to being part of the long list of Western-sanctioned oligarchs, Abramovich has been at the center of the scene for several days for his participation in negotiations between Russia and Ukraine. This week it became known that he suffered symptoms of possible poisoning, the same ones that affected two negotiators from Kiev. “They didn't intend to kill, it was just a warning,” reported journalist Christo Grozev, from the German portal Bellingcat.

Unavoidable character of the global jet-set and owner of a luxurious 15-room residence in the elegant London neighborhood of Kensington, Abramovich, 55, is one of those businessmen who became meteorically wealthy in the 1990s, following the introduction of market economy in Russia , acquiring considerable political influence.

The first shareholder of the steel company Evraz, with a fortune estimated by Forbes of more than 13 billion dollars, his luxurious life is often beyond the reach of the media, despite having a yacht, the Eclipse, which is 162 meters long and another half dozen ships.

And now, research by the Financial Times reveals that Abramovich owns or is linked to a collection of five yachts with an estimated value of nearly a billion dollars, including several boats whose ownership was kept secret until this week.

The UK and EU authorities are trying to identify all assets belonging to the sanctioned oligarchs. It had already been widely known that Abramovich owned Solaris and Eclipse, valued at $474 million and $437 million, respectively. But the Financial Times revealed this week that he also owns Halo and Garçon, both moored in Antigua.

“The government of Antigua was unaware of the ownership of ships docked on the island prior to the FT consultations, which highlights the magnitude of the challenge faced by the UK and EU authorities in enforcing sanctions,” the investigation assures.

Halo and Garçon are valued at $38 million and $20 million, and now that their real owner is discovered they risk being seized like other luxury belongings.

In a letter to the British High Commissioner in Barbados regarding yachts, Antigua's Foreign Minister Paul Chet Greene said that Antigua had requested information about the company that owns the two ships, Wenham Overseas Limited, registered in the British Virgin Islands, after “persistent allegations by the Financial Times that the ships could be owned by Mr. Roman Abramovich”.

The Financial Investigation Agency of the British Virgin Islands established that the ultimate beneficiary of Wenham Overseas Ltd is Roman Abramovich. The government of Antigua assured that it will collaborate in everything the United Kingdom needs.

A person with knowledge of Abramovich's boat collection and documents seen by the FT indicate that the oligarch could also own Sussurro, the first yacht he bought in 1998, despite reports that he had given it to an ex-wife in a divorce.

One source, which told the Financial Times that the two yachts in Antigua were Abramovich, said that the oligarch was also the owner of Sussurro, whose owner is listed in the maritime registers as Vesuvius International Limited in the British Virgin Islands.

The Jersey-based owner of Vesuvius International is listed as Wotton Overseas Holdings Limited, which also owns through a subsidiary of a helicopter that has been photographed several times landing at Abramovich's Solaris.

This vessel is valued at $11 million, and is moored in La Ciotat, in the south of France, the same port where the French government confiscated last month a $116 million superyacht belonging to a company linked to Igor Sechin, head of the Russian oil group Rosneft .

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