Roman Abramovich signed ownership of a 50-foot yacht to an associate on the day troops invaded Ukraine, according to a report. The oligarch is said to have handed over control of Aquamarine’s company to Russian businessman David Davidovich as troops poured into the border. According to the Guardian, the boat is under repair in the Dutch port of Vlissingen. Five luxury ships have now been publicly linked to the owner of Chelsea FC, all of which could potentially be subject to Western sanctions. Two of the luxury ships are said to have been transported to Turkey as financial constraints prevailed for the powerful businessman. Although he has consistently denied that he has close ties to Vladimir Putin, it has since emerged that Mr Abramovich is acting as an intermediary between the Russian and Ukrainian presidents. He has reportedly met the two in person since the start of the war and was photographed in official peace talks in Turkey. Last month, his spokesman revealed that he and others had been suspected of poisoning during a previous round of talks. Aquamarine is anchored in the Netherlands and owned by companies affiliated with Mr Abramovich (Image: Heesen Yachts) The yacht found by the Guardian investigation belongs to a complex structure that crosses Jersey and the British Virgin Islands. It was previously revealed by the Wall Street Journal that ownership of the investment vehicle owned by the yacht had been transferred to Mr Davidovich, which he confirmed to the Guardian. The luxury yacht was reportedly worth 33 33 million when it was first built. Western governments have targeted valuable assets linked to Russian billionaires with ties to the Kremlin since the start of the war. The government said yesterday that a 35 35m private jet belonging to Eugene Shvidler had been banned from taking off from Biggin Hill Airport in south-east London, where it was due to be serviced and repaired. He was barred from leaving under new rules, hitting Russian-owned aircraft on March 19. Mr. Shvidler is a friend of Chelsea FC owner Roman Abramovich and is a former boss and shareholder in his Evraz steel company. His luxury Bermuda-flagged yacht My Solaris is moored in southwestern Turkey (Image: AFP) Another Shvidler plane, a Bombardier Global 6500, has been held at Farnborough Airport in Hampshire since March 8. Mr Shapps said it was often “extremely complicated” to find out who controls private jets. Asked for reports, a private jet detained at Luton Airport was linked to Russian oligarch Yevgeny Prigozhin, the man accused of funding the Wagner Private Military Group. Mr Shapps said: “There are a lot of aircraft and some other ships, yachts, for which we work very closely with the authorities. “We will not hesitate to ensure that we impose sanctions, hold, strip all these ships.” On March 29, Mr Saps ordered the detention of 38 38m’s superpower Phi, who belonged to an anonymous Russian businessman in Canary Wharf, east London. Contact our news team by emailing us at [email protected] For more stories like this, check out our news page.
