The world’s largest sailing yacht is just a “houseboat”

Russian oligarch Andrei Melnitschenko (50) St. Moritz lives in GR and is the founder of Eurochem, headquartered in Zug. The company is one of the most important fertilizer producers in the world. His fortune is estimated at $27.5 billion. Melnichenko also owns the world’s largest sailing yacht. «Sailing Yacht A». Also called “A”. Thus it always comes first in all naval registers. A pleasure ship full of excellence: 143 meters long, eight decks, a crew of 54 and a three-masted 100 meters high – higher than any other carbon mast in the world.

The “A” features an underwater viewing platform built into the keel and the world’s tallest curved glass-enclosed balconies. It’s understandable that Melnichenko wanted to reopen the sails with his “A”. The oligarch superyacht, which was seized following EU sanctions, has been moored in Trieste, Italy since March. And it’s costing Italy’s taxpayers a fortune. So far, maintenance has consumed seven million euros in operating costs.

cover the scars

Melnichenko’s lawyers are using all sorts of tricks to dissuade the Russians from owning the yacht and reclassify the megayacht as a simple “floating house”. Other sanctioned oligarchs with superyachts are also following this strategy, according to Forbes. This includes putting floating luxury palaces under new flags. From anti-Moscow British tax havens to Russian-friendly legal systems.

A spokesperson for Melnichenko said there was no connection when “Forbes>” was asked if “A” belonged to a trust. “A” is “owned by a trust managed by an independent trustee and Mr. Melnichenko has no affiliation with that trust.”

Until now, “A” was sailing under the British Isle of Man flag. After being confiscated by Italy, it disappeared from the register there and was re-marked for Sierra Leone in West Africa. And “A” was no longer registered as a yacht or sports vessel, but as a houseboat.

The surprising strategy of the oligarchs

It remains unclear why Melnichenko and other Russians suddenly turned their luxury barges into houseboats. Benjamin Maltby, a London lawyer specializing in yachts, poses the same question. Maltby told Forbes that downgrading megayachts would make sense if they were “totally decommissioned and physically unable to move.” But then “registering them anywhere wouldn’t make much sense.”

Lawyers and officials are confused as to why Melnichenko and other sanctioned yachting oligarchs get into trouble when they can’t keep up with their superboats. Market insiders suspect that the sick, Putin-friendly super-rich are hoping they can legally re-launch with a new flag and pay lower taxes on houseboats.

Melnichenko handed over property to Serbian woman

This will happen if the sanctions are lifted and the ships are released. Melnichenko has legal action against the EU that the sanctions are unlawful. As plaintiff in court documents, St. His wife, Aleksandra (45), lives in Moritz.

According to Reuters, Melnichenko transferred ownership of Eurochem and coal and electricity group Suek to his wife a day before the imposition of EU sanctions. Therefore, the Melnichenkos argue that the sanctions are “unreasonable” because Alexandra has never held Russian citizenship or lived in Russia. Melnichenko’s wife is a Serbo-Croatian dual citizen.

Yacht «no change of ownership»

It is possible that the couple forgot to hide the ownership of “A” in time. According to Alessio Casci, head of Italy’s responsible Italian state real estate agency Agenzia del Demanio, “there has been no change in ownership” for the yacht, as the Trieste newspaper “Il Piccolo” reported on 23 December.

Since the outbreak of war in Ukraine, the EU, UK and US have seized at least 15 yachts with a combined value of $3.3 billion belonging to 13 sanctioned pro-Kremlin Russian oligarchs.