First Russian yacht, seized under sanctions, is sold in Europe

This is reported by Bloomberg.

The five-deck, 72-meter (236-foot) yacht was put up for sale after JPMorgan Chase & Co.  requested a 20.5 million euro ($20.4 million) loan related to the vessel.

The yacht, worth about $75 million, was put up for auction by the Admiralty Court of Gibraltar. Bidding was conducted for one day, and applications were accepted electronically.

In total, 63 bids were made at the auction.  It is currently unknown for what amount and to whom the yacht was sold. Information about the sale of the vessel will be published approximately two weeks after the transaction is completed.

It was previously reported that the vessel will most likely be sold below its appraised value.

Axioma became the first yacht to be sold because its owner fell under international sanctions following the large-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine. It was seized in March by authorities on British territory near the entrance to the Mediterranean Sea.

Sanctions against Pumpyanskyi were imposed by the European Union on March 10, and five days later by Great Britain.  Like other tycoons who have come under fire, he has tried to restructure his key assets. He bought back his stake in PJSC TMK, Russia's largest steel pipe producer, and stepped down from the board of directors. Great Britain estimated the value of Pumpyansky at 1.8 billion pounds ($2.1 billion).