The Netherlands seized 14 luxury yachts from Russian oligarchs in Dutch shipyards

The Dutch customs authorities have held a total of 14 Russian-owned luxury yachts in Dutch shipyards and are keeping them under strict surveillance in implementation of the export ban, Dutch Foreign Minister Wopke Hoekstra announced Wednesday.

In a letter sent to Parliament, Hoekstra specified that there are 12 yachts under construction, including one over 35 meters, and two ships that were under maintenance, and the 14 will no longer be able to be handed over to their owners or leave the country due to sanctions imposed against the Russian Government and the billionaires who support it.

In addition, the relationship of one of these yachts with a person named on the European sanctions lists is investigated and the ship is under surveillance.

The letter underlines that, beyond the yachts being built or under maintenance, there are no luxury ships anchored in the Netherlands.

Customs also verifies cargo shipments to Russia and Belarus, and has retained or examined approximately 30,000 containers and other cargo, verified 49,000 declarations of shipments to those two countries, and suspects that 53 cargo shipments may be violating sanctions, so an investigation is open.

Hoekstra added that the real estate of Russian individuals and entities in the Netherlands has been frozen, adding that so far financial institutions and trust offices in the Netherlands have frozen 516 million euros ($562 million) in assets and blocked 155 million ($169 million) in assets in transactions.

The implementation of the sanctions is slow in the Netherlands, so the Government has appointed a special coordinator for their active enforcement, former Foreign Minister Stef Blok, who will oversee the freezing of Russian assets, the blocking of financial transactions, the seizure of homes and ships Russian oligarchs.

(With information from EFE)

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