A RUSSIAN tycoon has lost a High Court fight over the seizure of his ￡38million superyacht.
Sergei Naumenko’s Phi remains at London docks following the February 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
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Russian tycoon Sergei Naumenko has lost a High Court fight over the seizure of his ￡38million superyacht. Credit: Reuters 2
Phi arrived here, partly for tax reasons, in 2021 and was due to go to Malta in March 2022. Credit: Reuters
The property mogul is not on the sanctions list.
But his newly built 200ft boat was seized as “owned, controlled or operated by a person connected with Russia”.
It arrived here, partly for tax reasons, in 2021 and was due to go to Malta in March 2022.
Judge Sir Ross Cranston concluded the detention did interfere with property rights. But public interest in the UK’s attempt to have as deep an impact as possible on Russia was greater.
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Sir Ross said Mr Naumenko did not claim to be suffering hardship because of the seizure. There was no evidence of a connection with Putin.
He heard that the Phi, which measures 58.5 metres - nearly 200 feet, had been moored at South Dock in the West India & Millwall Docks, in London, in December 2021 - and remained there.
The judge said there was no evidence that Mr Naumenko held any political or administrative position in Russia, nor evidence that he had any connection with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
He said Mr Naumenko had not been “designated” under sanctions regulations.
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