U.S. Treasury takes aim at Putin’s yachts

Today, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) took further actions aimed at degrading the key networks used by Russia’s elites, including President Vladimir Putin, to attempt to hide and move money and anonymously make use of luxury assets around the globe.

OFAC says that today’s action targets a Kremlin-aligned yacht brokerage, several prominent Russian government officials, and a close Putin associate and money-manager, Sergei Roldugin, identified by OFAC as “a custodian of President Putin’s offshore wealth.”

PUTIN-LINKED YACHTS

OFAC has identified Russia-flagged Graceful and Cayman Islands-flagged Olympia, as blocked property in which Putin has an interest. It says that Putin has taken numerous trips on these yachts, “including a 2021 trip in the Black Sea where he was joined by Alyaksandr Lukashenka, the OFAC-designated corrupt ruler of Belarus, who has supported Russia’s war against Ukraine.”

OFAC also designated the following entities and an individual who were registered owners of or involved in the management of either Graceful or Olympia. OFAC designated Russian Federation state-owned, Cyprus-registered SCF Management Services Cyprus Ltd pursuant to E.O. 14024 for being owned or controlled by, or for having acted or purported to act for or on behalf of, directly or indirectly, the Government of Russia.

OFAC also designated Ironstone Marine Investments, JSC Argument, and O’Neill Assets Corporation pursuant to E.O. 14024 for having materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, or technological support for, or goods or services to or in support of, Vladimir Putin. OFAC additionally designated JSC Argument’s sole shareholder and former director, Andrei Valeryevich Gasilov, pursuant to E.O. 14024 for being or having been a leader, official, senior executive officer, or member of the board of directors of JSC Argument.

OFAC also targeted two additional yachts linked to Putin, Shellest and Nega, which are owned by the Russian company Non-Profit Partnership Revival of Maritime Traditions (Revival of Maritime Traditions) and its Russian subsidiary Limited Liability Company Gelios (LLC Gelios), respectively. OFAC designated Revival of Maritime Traditions pursuant to E.O. 14024 for operating or having operated in the marine sector of the Russian Federation economy. OFAC designated LLC Gelios pursuant to E.O. 14024 for being owned or controlled by, or for having acted or purported to act for or on behalf of, directly or indirectly, Revival of Maritime Traditions. OFAC identified Shellest as blocked property in which Revival of Maritime Traditions has an interest and identified Nega as blocked property in which LLC Gelios has an interest. Shellest periodically travels to the coast where Putin’s infamous Black Sea Palace is located, and Putin uses Nega for travel in Russia’s North.

KREMLIN-ALIGNED YACHT BROKERAGE

Also targeted is Imperial Yachts SARL (Imperial Yachts), a yacht brokerage that offers a variety of services relating to superyachts, including their design, order, charter, and management. In addition to its head office in Monaco, Imperial Yachts maintains an office in Russia’s capital and provides yacht-related services to Russia’s elites, including those in President Putin’s inner circle. When not in use by their owners, superyachts can be offered for charter through businesses such as Imperial Yachts, generating income for the owners, who are in some cases Russia’s oligarchs. Imperial Yachts conducts business with U.S.-designated oligarchs, including through providing management services to at least one yacht linked to an OFAC-designated individual.

OFAC designated Monaco-based Imperial Yachts and its Russian CEO, Evgeniy Borisovich Kochman (Kochman), pursuant to E.O. 14024 for operating or having operated in the marine sector of the Russian Federation economy. OFAC also designated Imperial Yachts pursuant to E.O. 14024 for being owned or controlled by, or for having acted or purported to act for or on behalf of, directly or indirectly, Kochman.

Additionally, OFAC identified the largest yacht currently available for charter through Imperial Yachts, Flying Fox, as blocked property in which Imperial Yachts has an interest.

The entities OOO Nord Marine, OOO Yakht-Treid, OOO Bilding Management, and OOO Nord Marin Inzhiniring were designated pursuant to E.O. 14024 for being owned or controlled by, or for having acted or purported to act for or on behalf of, directly or indirectly, Kochman.

More HERE

And the detailed list of designated individuals, vessels and entities HERE