Fiji's Supreme Court has allowed the seizure of a $325 million Russian-owned superyacht by the United States as part of the sanctions imposed by Washington on Moscow over its unprovoked invasion of Ukraine.
The court's June 7 ruling, which represents a significant victory for Washington as it looks to seize the assets of Russian oligarchs around the world, said it was dismissing a stay of execution made by Millemarin Investments Ltd, the ship's legal owner.
U.S. authorities say the 107-meter vessel is actually owned by Russian oligarch Suleiman Kerimov.
"The president of the Supreme Court, Chief Justice Kamal Kumar, in his judgment this afternoon dismissed the petitioner's application for stay and ruled that the superyacht Amadea can leave Fiji," the director of the public prosecutor said in a statement, adding that the ship had been handed over to U.S. authorities "and will now leave Fiji."
Fijian media reported the boat left almost immediately following the publication of the ruling.
Kerimov's empire is built mainly on Russia's vast natural resources. He prospered during the four-year presidency of Dmitry Medvedev, pulling off a $24 billion merger that put his firm Uralkali in control of 40 percent of the $20 billion global potash market.
Kerimov appeared in February with several other billionaires alongside Russian President Vladimir Putin as Russian tanks crossed into Ukraine.
He was placed under U.S. sanctions in 2018 "for being an official of the government of the Russian Federation" after he served as a member of both the lower and upper houses of parliament.
Britain and the European Union sanctioned him soon after the February 24 invasion of Ukraine, citing him "a member of the inner circle of oligarchs" close to Putin.
The boat was impounded by Fijian police in April after arriving in the Pacific Ocean nation from Mexico.
Millemarin Investments, which denied it is ultimately owned by Kerimov, said in court that it was owned by another Russian oligarch, Eduard Khudainatov, the former president of oil giant Rosneft, who has not been put under sanctions by the United States.
