Before departure: Italy confiscates Putin’s alleged mega yacht

Italy confiscated the mega yacht Scheherazade, which was said to be owned by Russian President Putin. The authorities apparently prevented the 650 million euro vessel from escaping.

Italy has seized the giant yacht Scheherazade docked in Tuscany, which investigators say may be secretly owned by Russian President Vladimir Putin. The government in Rome said the financial police had assigned the 140-meter vessel to a person with links to “prominent elements of the Russian government” and other people on the EU sanctions list.

The Cayman Islands flag yacht, which was recently serviced in the port of Marina de Carrara, has long been noticed by the authorities. It seems that Finance Minister Daniel Franco prevented “Scheherazade” from sailing and a possible escape from Italian territory by his decision to confiscate the ship.

The yacht is said to be worth around 650 million euros

The New York Times reported this week that the yacht set off on Tuesday after months in a dry dock. Crew members were seen rushing to load the ship, and the yacht had been refueled the previous week. Italian authorities estimate the yacht at around 650 million euros.

According to research conducted by the team of Kremlin rival Alexei Navalny, who is imprisoned in Russia, the ship belongs to Putin. The luxury yacht company The Italian Sea Group, which last worked on the ship, announced weeks ago that, according to the documents, Putin is not the owner.

According to Italian media, Eduard Khodinatov, the former head of the Russian state-owned company Rosneft, is registered as the owner. The oil manager was also cited as the owner of the superyacht Amadea, which was seized in Fiji on Tuesday.