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Italy won't say who's paying for the care of a $700 million superyacht tied to Putin

Dustin Jones

The Scheherazade, a 460-foot superyacht, has been held in Italy since May 2022 in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. It is believed to have ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Laura Lezza/Getty Images hide caption

The Scheherazade, a 460-foot superyacht, has been held in Italy since May 2022 in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. It is believed to have ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The Scheherazade superyacht was impounded by the Italian government in May 2022 in response to Russian President Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine. Instead of falling into disrepair, Italy has allowed its owner to maintain and refit the vessel, but it won't disclose who is footing the bill.

The Financial Times reported on Sunday that the vessel has been held at port in Marina di Carrara, located almost 90 miles northwest of Florence, since it was impounded by authorities in the spring of 2022. For over a year, the Italian government has permitted the owner to continue paying for the ship's staff, its maintenance and refitting of the vessel. But Italy won't identify the owner.

Italy's Finance Ministry said in a May 2022 news release that the superyacht had "significant economic and business links" with "prominent elements of the Russian government" but didn't name the owner of the ship.

Ukraine invasion — explained

Ravaged by russian troops, bucha rises from the ashes.

According to the website SuperYachtFan , the 460-foot superyacht belongs to Russian billionaire Eduard Khudainatov. However, Bloomberg News reported in 2022 that he is a "straw owner" of the superyacht — as well as another ship — and that the Scheherazade actually belongs to Putin.

The Financial Times reported that the Scheherazade has 22 cabins, two helicopter decks and a spa and that it's being refitted by the Italian Sea Group. NPR reached out to the Italian Sea Group for comment but did not hear back before publication.

The United States created Task Force KleptoCapture in the wake of Putin's war against Ukraine, aiming to hold Russian oligarchs accountable for evading sanctions. In its one year of operation, the task force has brought charges to at least 35 individuals and entities, NPR previously reported.

Part of those efforts included seizing luxury items belonging to billionaires with ties to the Kremlin. This includes items like a 348-foot yacht seized in Fiji in May 2022, which is valued at about $300 million and is now sitting in San Diego.

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Russian oligarch Andrey Melnichenko berths superyacht in UAE

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Simeon Kerr in Ras al-Khaimah

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Investigators around the world have been searching for sanctions-hit Russian oligarchs’ yachts. One has been hiding in plain sight.

Italian authorities in March impounded Russian coal and fertilisers magnate Andrey Melnichenko’s $600mn Sailing Yacht A after Russia invaded Ukraine. Another yacht, the $300mn Philippe Starck-designed Motor Yacht A, has been anchored for weeks in the port of Ras al-Khaimah, in the United Arab Emirates.

By placing his yacht in the UAE, Melnichenko has put it beyond the reach of western governments enforcing sanctions on those deemed supportive of Russian president Vladimir Putin’s war on Ukraine.

Its presence is a symbolic reminder of the Gulf monarchy’s ambivalence towards western sanctions on Russia, allies of Putin and the wealthy businessmen who have often benefited from ties to the state.

While the UAE government is trying to enhance measures against money laundering to exit a global dirty-money watchdog’s watchlist, the economic foundation of cities such as Dubai has long been based on welcoming flows of assets and people.

“Given its non-enforcement of western sanctions, the dilemma for the UAE is how to sustain its place as an open destination for capital while also appearing to be a good global citizen,” said one compliance professional. “It’s a tricky balancing act.”

The government of the Isle of Man said it had in March deregistered Melnichenko’s yachts, including Motor Yacht A, because of western sanctions, saying, “we will continue to act with appropriate robustness should the situation warrant it”.

Marine locator services placed Motor Yacht A off the Maldives in March. The Financial Times then saw the yacht on April 18. On Saturday it remained moored opposite Ras al-Khaimah’s city-centre fish market.

Businessmen in the UAE say Melnichenko, who denies affiliations to the Kremlin, held meetings there in April, but the tycoon has since returned to Moscow. A representative of Melnichenko, who has been placed under sanctions by the EU and UK as well as Switzerland and Australia, referred questions on the yacht to a lawyer who declined to comment.

UAE authorities in Dubai, Ras al-Khaimah and Abu Dhabi declined to comment.

European officials say they have raised concerns with Emirati counterparts that the UAE could become a financial haven for Russians placed under western sanctions. “We don’t want our allies to become facilitators for the Putin regime,” said one.

The UAE government has said it is maintaining a neutral course through the war, calling for an end to hostilities and providing humanitarian aid to Ukraine. Abu Dhabi, which has developed closer ties with Moscow in recent years, has also assured its allies that sanctions-hit entities will not be able to operate in the UAE. The Gulf monarchy, which has long argued that it is not compelled to enforce other nations’ sanctions, is keen to maintain its historical role as an apolitical territory focused on business.

Thousands of wealthy, non-sanctions-hit Russians have relocated to the UAE to escape economic uncertainty and political instability at home, even though they sometimes struggle to access the financial system. “Big banks are more cautious but smaller banks are offering help to those wishing to relocate. It’s just taking a lot of time,” said a Russian businessman.

Very wealthy Russians generally find financial institutions accommodating. Most of the wealthy elite have second passports from countries that sell nationality, such as Malta or Portugal, which facilitates the opening of new accounts with lenders that are warier of Russian passport holders.

Others have turned to alternative routes, such as cryptocurrencies and hawala, or informal money exchange services. The cost of this service has risen from 1 per cent of the transaction value to 5 per cent since the war broke out as demand surges, said one person aware of the trades.

Many in the UAE see a hypocrisy in western concern over the presence of the yacht and the Russians building new lives there. “So it was OK for London to take all the oligarch money but not for Dubai?” asked one lawyer.

Additional reporting by Nastassia Astrasheuskaya in Riga

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Russian crew aboard a superyacht possibly linked to Putin have left their jobs, workers say.

U.S. officials have said the Scheherezade, which is dry-docked in Italy, could be owned by the Russian leader.

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By Gaia Pianigiani

• March 24, 2022

Russian crew members on a mysterious $700-million luxury yacht that U.S. officials say could be owned by President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia abruptly left their jobs and the Tuscan coastal town where it is undergoing repairs a couple of weeks ago amid scrutiny of the vessel, local union leaders and workers say.

The crew members had been fixtures in the small port of Marina di Carrara since the fall of 2020, when the 459-foot-long yacht, Scheherazade, arrived at a dry dock less than four months after being built. No owner has been publicly identified.

“They were replaced by a British crew,” said Paolo Gozzani, the local leader of Italy’s General Confederation of Labor trade union, on Wednesday. “I don’t know and don’t care whether the yacht is indeed Putin’s or not, but I worry about the repercussions on shipyard workers if police impound or confiscate the vessel.”

Workers at the shipyard and regular visitors to its private lounge confirmed that the Russians had routinely supervised the work done on the yacht and had drinks at the bar or played pool there in the evenings. The yacht, estimated by the website SuperYachtFan to cost about $700 million, has two helicopter decks, a swimming pool with a retractable cover that converts to a dance floor and a gym.

This week, the research team of Aleksei A. Navalny, the Russian opposition leader, published a video in which it argued, based on a 2020 crew manifest, that a dozen of the Russian crew members of the Scheherazade either worked for or had a connection with Russia’s Federal Protective Service. The team drew the conclusion that the yacht must belong to Mr. Putin or some of his closest aides.

The Scheherazade’s real ownership is hidden by various shell companies. American officials said this month they had found initial indications that it was linked to Mr. Putin but would not describe what information they had.

In an interview with The New York Times this month, the yacht’s captain, Guy Bennett-Pearce, declined to disclose the name of the owner, but denied that Mr. Putin owned or had ever been on the yacht. Mr. Bennett-Pearce said Thursday he wouldn’t comment further until an investigation by Italian authorities was finished.

Italy’s financial police have been looking into Scheherazade’s ownership for weeks. Italian investigators wouldn’t comment on Thursday, saying that the investigation was continuing.

In a speech to Italy’s Parliament this week, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky urged Italy to prevent Russians from vacationing in the country, as well as to freeze their assets, bank accounts and yachts, “f rom the Scheherazade to the smallest ones .”

Italian authorities have frozen over 800 million euros in assets from Russian oligarchs on the European sanctions list, including villas in Sardinia, Tuscany, Liguria and the Lake Como area, and three yachts.

Gaia Pianigiani is a reporter based in Italy for The New York Times.  More about Gaia Pianigiani

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Satellite image shows super yacht linked to Putin out of reach of sanctions

By Catherine Herridge , Michael Kaplan, Andrew Bast, Jessica Kegu

March 3, 2022 / 7:30 AM EST / CBS News

As Europe and the U.S. bear down with a raft of aggressive sanctions targeting Russian President Vladimir Putin, the super yacht he is believed to own has found safe harbor in a highly militarized port in Russian territorial waters. In new satellite imagery obtained by CBS News, the yacht can be seen docked in a port in Kaliningrad, near Russia's nuclear weapons operations. 

Experts say Putin's luxury vessel has become a symbol not only of his vast hidden wealth, but also of how challenging that money has been to find. 

"He's a KGB agent, so he's crafty. He knows how to hide when he needs to," said John Smith, former director of the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control, which administers and enforces all foreign sanctions.

Data from MarineTraffic, a global intelligence group, shows Putin's alleged yacht, the Graceful, left Germany two weeks before the invasion of Ukraine . 

Putin's government salary is said to be about $140,000, but that doesn't begin to explain the mansions, million-dollar watch collection and over-the-top yacht. 

"It would be fair to say he's among the richest men in the world," Smith said. 

Though he sells himself as a man of the people, his wealth is estimated to be more than $100 billion. 

Putin's critics allege he also has a cliffside palace that includes an amphitheater and a personal tunnel to the beach that doubles as a security bunker. 

"Of course, he doesn't acknowledge it as being his own," Smith said. "It doesn't fit with the public persona that he's trying to create to actually acknowledge it." 

Putin relies on his oligarch friends to shield his fortune from sanctions, Smith said. 

"So if he asked them to do something, they do it in terms of hiding assets, squirreling them in different parts of the globe, they will do what he needs," he said. 

Those who have tried to expose Putin's fortune have done so at great personal risk. 

Putin critic Boris Nemtsov was assassinated on a bridge in the shadow of the Kremlin in 2015. Sergei Magnitsky died in 2009 under questionable circumstances in prison after he exposed $230 million in fraud by Putin's friends. Putin publicly condemned Nemtsov's murder and claimed Magnitsky died of a heart attack.  

His most recent No. 1 critic, Alexei Navalny , who helped expose Putin's lavish palace, emerged as a political rival and found himself repeatedly jailed. He nearly died after being poisoned two years ago, though Putin has denied responsibility for the poisoning. 

"Putin's wealth is one of the most dangerous topics," said Russian journalist Roman Badanin, who spent two decades investigating Putin's financial web. 

Badanin said Russian authorities sought to intimidate and silence his reporting team. Six months ago, he reached his breaking point. 

"I fled the country. My apartment was searched twice. I have like three criminal charges against me back in Russia," he said. 

In his State of the Union address, President Biden said the U.S. and its allies are waging economic war on Putin and Russian oligarchs. 

"We are joining with our European allies to find and seize your yachts, your luxury apartments and your private jets," Biden said. 

On Wednesday, the Justice Department announced the formation of a new task force that would target Russian oligarchs. 

"Russia is not a transparent economy," Smith said. "The U.S. and our allies have decent information on some of [Putin's] assets, I think a lot will remain a mystery for a long time in the future." 

The biggest financial hit for Putin would be sanctions on the energy sector, which Smith says the Russian president has used to build up his wealth for years. So far, Washington and the Europeans have been hesitant to do that. 

• Vladimir Putin

Catherine Herridge is a senior investigative correspondent for CBS News covering national security and intelligence based in Washington, D.C.

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Fleeing sanctions, oligarchs seek safe ports for superyachts

FILE - The yacht Amore Vero is docked in the Mediterranean resort of La Ciotat, France, Thursday, March 3, 2022. French authorities have seized the yacht linked to Igor Sechin, a Putin ally who runs Russian oil giant Rosneft, as part of EU sanctions over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The boat arrived in La Ciotat on Jan. 3 for repairs and was slated to stay until April 1 and was seized to prevent an attempted departure. (AP Photo/Bishr Eltoni, File)

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WASHINGTON (AP) — The massive superyacht Dilbar stretches one-and-a-half football fields in length, about as long as a World War I dreadnought. It boasts two helipads, berths for more than 130 people and a 25-meter swimming pool long enough to accommodate another whole superyacht.

Dilbar was launched in 2016 at a reported cost of more than $648 million. Five years on, its purported owner, the Kremlin-aligned Russian oligarch Alisher Usmanov, was already dissatisfied and sent the vessel to a German shipyard last fall for a retrofit reportedly costing another couple hundred million dollars.

That’s where she lay in drydock on Thursday when the United States and European Union announced economic sanctions against Usmanov — a metals magnate and early investor in Facebook — over his ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin and in retaliation for the invasion of Ukraine.

“We are joining with our European allies to find and seize your yachts, your luxury apartments, your private jets,” President Joe Biden said during his State of the Union speech Tuesday night, addressing the oligarchs. “We are coming for your ill-begotten gains.”

But actually seizing the behemoth boats could prove challenging. Russian billionaires have had decades to shield their money and assets in the West from governments that might try to tax or seize them.

Several media outlets reported Wednesday that German authorities had impounded Dilbar. But a spokeswoman for Hamburg state’s economy ministry told The Associated Press no such action had yet been taken because it had been unable to establish ownership of the yacht, which is named for Usmanov’s mother.

Dilbar is flagged in the Cayman Islands and registered to a holding company in Malta, two secretive banking havens where the global ultra-rich often park their wealth.

Still, in the industry that caters to the exclusive club of billionaires and centimillionaires that can afford to buy, crew and maintain superyachts, it is often an open secret who owns what.

Working with the U.K.-based yacht valuation firm VesselsValue , the AP compiled a list of 56 superyachts — generally defined as luxury vessels exceeding 24 meters (79 feet) in length — believed to be owned by a few dozen Kremlin-aligned oligarchs, seaborne assets with a combined market value estimated at more than $5.4 billion.

The AP then used two online services — VesselFinder and MarineTraffic — to plot the last known locations of the yachts as relayed by their onboard tracking beacons.

While many are still anchored at or near sun-splashed playgrounds in the Mediterranean and Caribbean, more than a dozen were underway to or had already arrived in remote ports in small nations such as the Maldives and Montenegro, potentially beyond the reach of Western sanctions. Three are moored in Dubai, where many wealthy Russians have vacation homes.

Another three had gone dark, their transponders last pinging just outside the Bosporus in Turkey — gateway to the Black Sea and the southern Russian ports of Sochi and Novorossiysk.

Graceful , a German-built Russian-flagged superyacht believed to belong to Putin, left a repair yard in Hamburg on Feb. 7, two weeks before Russia invaded Ukraine. It is now moored in the Russian Baltic port of Kaliningrad, beyond the reach of Western sanctions imposed against him this past week.

Some Russian oligarchs appear to have not gotten the memo to move their superyachts, despite weeks of public warnings of Putin’s planned invasion.

French authorities seized the superyacht Amore Vero on Thursday in the Mediterranean resort town of La Ciotat. The boat is believed to belong to Igor Sechin, a Putin ally who runs Russian oil giant Rosneft, which has been on the U.S. sanctions list since Russia annexed Crimea in 2014.

The French Finance Ministry said in a statement that customs authorities boarded the 289-foot Amore Vero and discovered its crew was preparing for an urgent departure, even though planned repair work wasn’t finished. The $120 million boat is registered to a company that lists Sechin as its primary shareholder.

On Saturday, Italian financial police in the port of San Remo seized the 132-foot superyacht Lena , which is flagged in the British Virgin Islands. Authorities said the boat belongs to Gennady Timchenko, an oligarch close to Putin and among those sanctioned by the European Union. With an estimated net worth of $16.2 billion, Timchenko is the founder of the Volga Group, which specializes in investments in energy, transport and infrastructure assets.

The 213-foot Lady M was also seized by the Italians while moored in the Riviera port town of Imperia. In a tweet announcing the seizure on Friday, a spokesman for Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi said the comparatively modest $27 million vessel was the property of sanctioned steel baron Alexei Mordashov, listed as Russia’s wealthiest man with a fortune of about $30 billion.

But Mordashov’s upsized yacht, the 464-foot Nord, was safely at anchor on Friday in the Seychelles, a tropical island chain in the Indian Ocean not under the jurisdiction of U.S. or EU sanctions. Among the world’s biggest superyachts, Nord has a market value of $500 million.

Since Friday, Italy has seized 143 million euros ($156 million) in luxury yachts and villas in some of its most picturesque destinations, including Sardinia, the Ligurian coast and Lake Como.

Most of the Russians on the annual Forbes list of billionaires have not yet been sanctioned by the United States and its allies, and their superyachts are still cruising the world’s oceans.

The evolution of oligarch yachts goes back to the tumultuous decade after the 1991 fall of the Soviet Union, as state oil and metals industries were sold off at rock-bottom prices, often to politically connected Russian businessmen and bankers who had provided loans to the new Russian state in exchange for the shares.

Russia’s nouveau riche began buying luxury yachts similar in size and expense to those owned by Silicon Valley billionaires, heads of state and royalty. It’s a key marker of status in Moscow and St. Petersburg, and size matters.

“No self-respecting Russian oligarch would be without a superyacht,” said William Browder, a U.S.-born and now London-based financier who worked in Moscow for years before becoming one of the Putin regime’s most vocal foreign critics. “It’s part of the rite of passage to being an oligarch. It’s just a prerequisite.”

As their fortunes ballooned, there was something of an arms race among the oligarchs, with the richest among them accumulating personal fleets of ever more lavish boats.

For example, Russian metals and petroleum magnate Roman Abramovich is believed to have bought or built at least seven of the world’s largest yachts, some of which he has since sold off to other oligarchs.

In 2010, Abramovich launched the Bermuda-flagged Eclipse , which at 533 feet was at the time the world’s longest superyacht. Features include a wood-burning firepit and swimming pool that transforms into a dance floor. Eclipse also boasts its own helicopter hangar and an undersea bay that reportedly holds a mini-sub.

Dennis Causier, a superyacht analyst with VesselsValue, said oligarch boats often include secret security measures worthy of a Bond villain, including underwater escape hatches, bulletproof windows and armored panic rooms.

“Eclipse is equipped with all sorts of special features, including missile launchers and self-defense systems on board,” Causier said. “It has a secret submarine evacuation area and things like that.”

Eclipse was soon eclipsed by Azzam, purportedly owned by the emir of Abu Dhabi, which claimed the title of longest yacht when it was launched in 2013. Three years after that, Usmanov launched Dilbar , which replaced another slightly smaller yacht by the same name. The new Dilbar is the world’s largest yacht by volume.

Abramovich, whose fortune is estimated at $12.4 billion, fired back last year by launching Solaris . While not as long as Eclipse or as big as Dilbar, the $600 million Bermuda-flagged boat is possibly even more luxurious. Eight stories tall, Solaris features a sleek palisade of broad teak-covered decks suitable for hosting a horde of well-heeled partygoers.

But no boat is top dog for long. At least 20 superyachts are reported to be under construction in various Northern European shipyards, including a $500 million superyacht being built for the American billionaire Jeff Bezos.

“It’s about ego,” Causier said. “They all want to have the best, the longest, the most valuable, the newest, the most luxurious.”

But, he added, the escalating U.S. and EU sanctions on Putin-aligned oligarchs and Russian banks have sent a chill through the industry, with boatbuilders and staff worried they won’t be paid. It can cost upwards of $50 million a year to crew, fuel and maintain a superyacht.

The crash of the ruble and the tanking of Moscow stock market have depleted the fortunes of Russia’s elite, with several people dropping off the list of Forbes billionaires last week. Causier said he expects some oligarch superyachts will soon quietly be listed by brokers at fire-sale prices.

The 237-foot Stella Maris, which was seen by an AP journalist docked this past week in Nice, France, was believed to be owned by Rashid Sardarov, a Russian billionaire oil and gas magnate. After publication of an earlier version of this story, AP was contacted Sunday by yacht broker Joan Plana Palao, who said his company represents a U.S. citizen from California who purchased the Stella Maris last month. He declined to disclose the name of the buyer or the person from whom the boat had been purchased.

On Thursday, the U.S. Treasury Department issued a new round of sanctions that included a press release touting Usmanov’s close ties to Putin and photos of Dilbar and the oligarch’s private jet, a custom-built 209-foot Airbus A340-300 passenger liner. Treasury said Usmanov’s aircraft is believed to have cost up to $500 million and is named Bourkhan, after his father.

Usmanov, whose fortune has recently shrunk to about $17 billion, criticized the sanctions.

“I believe that such a decision is unfair and the reasons employed to justify the sanctions are a set of false and defamatory allegations damaging my honor, dignity and business reputation,” he said in a statement issued through the website of the International Fencing Federation, of which he has served as president since 2008.

Abramovich has not yet been sanctioned. Members of the British Parliament have criticized Prime Minister Boris Johnson for not going after Abramovich’s U.K.-based assets, which include the professional soccer club Chelsea. Under mounting pressure, the oligarch announced this past week he would sell the $2.5 billion team and give the net proceeds “for the benefit of all victims of the war in Ukraine.”

Meanwhile, location transponders showed Solaris moored in Barcelona , Spain, on Saturday. Eclipse set sail from St. Maarten late Thursday and is underway in the Caribbean Sea, destination undisclosed.

Associated Press writer Aritz Parra in Madrid contributed to this report.

Follow AP Investigative Reporter Michael Biesecker at twitter.com/mbieseck

Contact AP’s global investigative team at [email protected] .

US intelligence officials believe a $700 million superyacht that's docked in Italy could belong to Russian President Vladimir Putin, reports say

• US officials say a superyacht docked in Italy could belong to Russian President Vladimir Putin. 
• People briefed on the intelligence, however, said no set conclusions have been made, per The NYT. 
• The $700 million superyacht is currently docked on the Tuscan coast of Italy. 

US authorities believe a $700 million superyacht that's docked in Italy could belong to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The New York Times reported the news, citing several people briefed on the information.

The superyacht, called the Scheherazade, which is currently situated on the Tuscan coast of Italy first came to light after The Times reported Tuesday that Italian authorities were examining the 459-foot-long vessel. 

While some believed it could belong to a Russian oligarch, locals told The Times they nicknamed it "Putin's yacht." 

Following the invasion of Ukraine , Russia has been hit with wide-ranging sanctions targeting oligarchs and their luxury assets . Superyachts have come under particular scrutiny in recent weeks.

US intelligence officials have not concluded who owns the Scheherazade but said they found initial indications that it was associated with Putin, per The Times.

Related stories

The people with knowledge of the matter would not describe what information led them to believe the superyacht was linked to the Russian President, according to the publication. 

The ship's captain, Guy Bennett-Pearce, told reporters earlier this week that Putin was not the owner of the ship and that he had never been on the yacht. He didn't, however, rule out the possibility of the owner being Russian. 

Meanwhile, the US and the other countries are doubling down on efforts to confiscate oligarchs' high-end assets.

"We are joining with our European allies to find and seize your yachts, your luxury apartments, your private jets," President Joe Biden said  in his State of The Union address on March 1. "We are coming for your ill-begotten gains."

Some oligarchs have scrambled to try and escape the sanctions against them, taking their private jets and ships to places like Dubai and the Maldives . 

Others like Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich are resorting to selling off their assets .

The Scheherazade has been undergoing repairs since June 2020 in the small Italian town of Marina di Carrara. Its features include a helicopter landing pad, a large pool, a cinema, and a drone crashing system, according to Superyacht Fan . 

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$700m superyacht docked in Italy may belong to Putin, say US officials

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A $700m superyacht being repaired in an Italian dry dock may belong to Vladimir Putin , according to US intelligence officials.

The ownership of the 459ft Scheherazade has come under close scrutiny since Russia ’s unprovoked assault on Ukraine , and the vessel could be associated with Mr Putin, intelligence officials told The New York Times .

American officials told the newspaper that no final conclusions on ownership have been made, but the link backs up a claim made by a former crew member that it was for Mr Putin’s use.

The officials say that Mr Putin keeps little of his personal wealth in his own name, instead using homes and boats that are held in the name of Russian oligarchs.

Mr Putin spent long periods during the Covid-19 pandemic in the Black Sea city of Sochi, where the Scheherazade made trips in the summers of 2020 and 2021, the officials added.

The Biden administration is investigating ownership of super yachts associated with Russian oligarchs as part of the enormous sanctions levied on Russia.

The yacht is currently undergoing repairs in the Tuscan port of Marina di Carrara.

Guy Bennett-Pearce, the Scheherazade’s captain, has denied that Mr Putin owns the yacht, or has even has put a foot onboard it.

If the US government wanted to seize the yacht out would need the help of the Italian government before it left for Russian waters.

Following US and European Union sanctions against Russia, officials impounded a 213ft yacht owned by Alexei Mordashov in Imperia, Italy and Igor Sechin’s 280-foot yacht in the French port of La Ciotat.

Under US and most European laws, the frozen assets remain owned by the oligarch but cannot be transferred or sold.

Both men will continue to own their yachts but will be prevented by authorities from moving them to pro-Russian locations.

To seize a yacht government prosecutors would have to prove that the property was part of a crime.

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• Sanctions contre la Russie

L’Italie immobilise un méga-yacht qui pourrait appartenir à Poutine

Au lendemain de la saisie du navire de l’oligarque russe Suleïman Kerimov aux Fidji, les autorités italiennes ont annoncé l’immobilisation du “Shéhérazade”, un méga-yacht évalué à plusieurs centaines de millions de dollars. D’après la presse américaine, son propriétaire ne serait autre que le président russe Vladimir Poutine.

Le ministère italien de l’Économie et des Finances a expliqué vendredi 7 mai que l’enquête “menée par la police financière avait permis d’établir ‘ des liens économiques et financiers significatifs’ entre le navire et des hauts responsables du gouvernement russe, ainsi que des individus sanctionnés par l’ Union européenne ” après l’ invasion de l’Ukraine par la Russie, selon Forbes .

Le méga yacht, valorisé selon les estimations entre 485 et 635 millions d’euros, faisait l’objet d’une enquête “depuis plusieurs mois” , alors qu’il était en cale sèche à Marina di Carrara, en Toscane. Mais sa mise à l’eau mardi avait fait “craindre qu’il ne quitte l’Italie avant la fin de l’enquête” , précise le magazine économique américain.

L’identité du propriétaire du Shéhérazade – qui n’a pas été divulguée par les autorités italiennes – fait l’objet de nombreuses spéculations. Mais le nom du président russe lui-même est sur toutes les lèvres.

Une enquête de la fondation anticorruption de l’opposant russe Alexeï Navalny publiée fin mars pointe Vladimir Poutine, relevant que “tous les membres d’équipage sont des citoyens russes employés par le Service fédéral de protection, l’agence en charge de la protection personnelle de Poutine” .

Confidences de l’équipage

D’autres publications avancent le nom d’Eduard Khudainatov, ancien patron du géant russe du pétrole Rosneft et proche de Poutine, mais The New York Times a parlé à un ancien membre d’équipage, qui affirme n’avoir jamais entendu parler de M. Khuainatov. “À bord, on discutait ouvertement du fait que Poutine était le vrai propriétaire du Shéhérazade ” , rapporte Forbes .

Le méga yacht de 140 mètres de long est sorti des chantiers navals allemands de Lürssen en 2020 et sa maintenance est assurée par The Italian Sea Group. Il compte deux plateformes pour hélicoptères, un salon de beauté, une salle de cinéma, un spa, et une salle de gym, énumère Forbes .

Courrier international

Dubaï, paradis immobilier pour l’argent sale du monde entier

Devises, immobilier, yachts : l’argent russe inonde la Turquie

Joe Biden veut augmenter l’aide à l’Ukraine et saisir les biens des oligarques russes

Roman Abramovitch, propriétaire de Chelsea, aux mains “couvertes de sang”

Updated by business owner a few days ago

Review Highlights

“ This restaurant has turned it around and is on my list of restaurants to eat at Lake Oconee . ” in 2 reviews

“ It's not hard at all to do your boat from the lake and access to restaurant during operating hours! ” in 2 reviews

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1137 Lake Oconee Pkwy

Eatonton, GA 31024

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1.5 miles away from Lake House

Becca T. said "Staff greeted us upon us entering establishment. Order taken in timely manner. Employee helped with the use of the app to earn rewards. Food delicious. Staff very professional and kind. Restaurant clean. Music playing softly in the…" read more

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Chick-fil-A

Gary T. said "I have eaten Chick-fil-A my whole life, and been very happy about it. This basic chicken sandwich is the greatest I've ever had. Bun is perfectly buttery and toasty in ways I'd never imagined. Would have happily eaten just the bun.…" read more

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About the Business

Hello, We are closed today and tomorrow to allow our staff a break after a busy successful memorial day weekend. See everyone Thursday as we move back to normal business hours. Thank you …

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Overall rating

The lake House restaurant is located in a very convenient area of lake Oconee! It's not hard at all to do your boat from the lake and access to restaurant during operating hours! I visited here with my family and some friends that came into town back in June. In terms of food, I ordered a BLT sandwich. I believe it was. It was awesome! Drinks really good service was really good. Will definitely be back.

Well. I'm still sitting here waiting for my food. Unless there is a major shift in how the food tastes, I think I'm giving them a real break with two stars. The hostesses had a helluva time seating us. I'm not sure what the fuss was about but they really seemed overwhelmed. There weren't that many people here and there were plenty of seats available. But somehow it took 15 minutes to get us to a table. Now we've been sitting here for close to 45 minutes for 2 salads, tacos, grilled cheese and corn dogs. I give this place until mid-fall. If they're still in business in January, I'll be shocked.

Can't say enough about the re-branding efforts here... service, drinks and food were all outstanding. From the craft cocktails to each of the dishes we tried, all prepared perfectly with well balanced flavor. If you haven't been here in a while you are definitely in for a treat!

Halibut and chicken parmesan sami with some delightful craft cocktails

Wagyu toast appetizer with brilliant libations

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Business Owner

May 15, 2024

Will, thank you for the review. We appreciate the feedback. We have an amazing team here at Lake House and want to set the new standard for casual dining at the lake. We look forward to serving you again soon. Lake Time All the Time

I am so happy The Lake House opened in the old Georgia Butts location. The setting right on the lake is peaceful and beautiful, and the interior is refreshed and very "gastropub." Next time I will sit outside on the deck facing the water. There is plenty of parking but every other time I have driven by, it seemed so busy we didn't stop in. This time we struck at 5pm and it was busy but not overly so. Celina was our very friendly and attentive waitress and she helped me with gluten free options. Five stars for Celina! I enjoyed the spiciness of my shrimp and grits, the cook on the shrimp, the sauce, and the sausage. I was disappointed that the grits were a little stiff and lumpy (this is the South y'all!) but overall it was a good meal. My husband's burger was cooked perfectly medium rare and he enjoyed it. The bar patrons seemed happy watching four screens of sports. Keep up the good food and great service!

See all photos from Jennifer M. for Lake House

Great view of lake. Bar is good sized but only a few restaurant tables Use your boat and tie to their docks

We had friends in town and took them for lunch. The Poutine, The wings and The BLT (sweet thick bacon)were perfect. The waitress was very attentive, the busboy kept coming around clearing our plates too. What a difference the new Lake House has made! Great overall experience.

This restaurant has turned it around and is on my list of restaurants to eat at Lake Oconee. The menu is fresh and the food is very good. The service was excellent. The entertainment got me to visit when Matt Rogers performed and the food will keep me coming back.

First off, the service is fantastic! They are attentive and focused on customer care. The food was excellent and I could not have asked for a better experience.

Seared salmon with red curry sauce.

Chicken parm sando

I had a great experience here, and contrary to what Jennifer P said in a previous review everything went perfectly. I look forward to coming back and not seeing her there.

Placed done in order with appetizers. After 25 minutes I had to actually ask for the appetizers! After 5 more minutes the appetizers were brought out. Without condiments. Asked for them. Never received. Had to obtain myself. Waitress NEVER came back to on us. Not once. Went to her other tables multiple times. Had to flag her down for check & to go box! Possibly the worst service I've ever experienced! Will not go back.

1 other review that is not currently recommended

Burger King

Madison V. said "My family and I were on our way to my grandparents' house and it was very early in the morning but we stopped here to get breakfast. Since it was so early, we checked the hours and it said they opened at 6 am. It was 6:30 at the…" read more

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Jersey Mike’s Subs

Michael H. said "My wife and I were returning home from South Carolina, and we both were a little hungry, and we decided to go to Jersey Mike's Subs; the location is relatively new, and as we entered the restaurant, I was impressed with the…" read more

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