France and Germany are detaining superyachts in their ports belonging to close associates of Russian president Vladimir Putin as western governments start enforcing sanctions against the country’s businesses and billionaires following the invasion of Ukraine.
The EU, along with the UK, the US and other allies, is targeting oligarchs’ assets including luxury homes and cars as part of a sanctions package of financial, commercial, cultural and sporting sanctions against Russia. Some 510 people and entities are on the EU sanctions list, according to France’s finance ministry.
The French finance ministry announced on Thursday that the $116mn superyacht Amore Vero belonging to a company of which Igor Sechin — the boss of Russian oil group Rosneft — had been identified as the main shareholder had been held in the Mediterranean port of La Ciotat.