A $75 million superyacht owned by sanctioned Russian steel tycoon Dmitry Pumpyansky has been sold at an auction in Gibraltar, the first sale of a Russian oligarch's assets seized since Moscow launched its ongoing unprovoked invasion of Ukraine in late February.
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Howe Robinson Partners, which oversaw the auction, said on August 23 that 63 bids were placed at an auction to sell the 72.5-meter Axioma superyacht that was confiscated from Pumpyansky, a close associate of Russian President Vladimir Putin, in March after the imposition of sanctions by Britain, the United States, and the European Union.
The winning bid and the name of the buyer was not disclosed. Detailed information on the deal is expected to be made public in 10 to 14 days.
The yacht was seized by the Gibraltarian government due to a legal claim by U.S. investment bank JP Morgan, which said Pumpyansky’s holding company, Pyrene Investments, owed it more than $20 million.
JP Morgan asked Gibraltar's courts to seize and sell the yacht, saying that because Pumpyansky had been subjected to sanctions, the terms of the loan had been breached as it legally could not accept loan repayments from Pyrene.
Pumpyansky was the owner and chairman of the steel-pipe manufacturer OAO TMK, the world's biggest steel-pipe producer and a supplier to the Russian state-owned energy company Gazprom. He left the post and stopped being a beneficiary of the company after international sanctions were imposed against him in March.
The United States and the European Union have stepped up a crackdown on Russian oligarchs following Putin's invasion of Ukraine.
They have moved to seize luxury estates, superyachts, and aircraft of Russian billionaires known to have ties to Putin in an effort to pressure people close to him and in turn influence his decisions on the war.