Gibraltar prepares for auction of Russian oligarch’s detained superyacht

A £65 million ($76.89 million) superyacht of a Russian oligarch hit by sanctions will be auctioned off by the Gibraltar government on Tuesday, becoming the first of the luxury vessels to be sold off since restrictions were imposed on hundreds of rich Russians after Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, Report informs via the Guardian.

However, the 72.5-meter Axioma is not being sold for the benefit of the Ukrainian people but for a US investment bank, JP Morgan, which claims the yacht’s billionaire owner, Dmitry Pumpyansky, owes it more than $20 million.

The vessel, which features six luxurious guest cabins, a swimming pool, a 3D cinema room, gym, jacuzzi and a fully equipped spa, was detained after docking in Gibraltar in March.

Pumpyansky, the owner and chairman of the steel pipe manufacturer OAO TMK, a supplier to the Russian state-owned energy company Gazprom, was subjected to sanctions by the UK, EU and the US after the invasion of Ukraine. The UK said the billionaire, who it said had built up an estimated £1.84 billion ($2.17 billion) fortune, was one of the oligarchs “closest to Putin”.

While dozens of superyachts suspected of being owned by oligarchs under sanction have been detained or confiscated across the world, Axioma is the only one that has been put up for sale.