MERIDIAN A

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Frozen oligarch yacht shifted berth and changed name

Spanish authorities moved the 'Valerie', which is linked to the sanctioned head of Russian defense group Rostec, after the shipyard where it was berthed stopped receiving payments for its repairs. Spain ordered the ship “frozen” – meaning the vessel can not be used or sold – in March, acting on European Union sanctions. The yacht is tied to Sergei Chemezov, an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Payments for the ship’s repairs at Barcelona’s MB92 shipyard stopped soon after the freezing order. MB92 asked authorities to relocate the ship so its berth could be used. The yacht was moved on Sep 20 by maritime authority officials and escorted by Spain’s civil guard police and was moored in the nearby Marina Vela marina with its name having changed to 'Meridian A' already on Sep 19. Chemezov has been under EU and U.S. sanctions since 2014 over Russia’s annexation of Crimea. He was also named in sanctions imposed by Australia in March over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The yacht is formally owned by Chemezov’s stepdaughter, Anastasia Ignatova, according to the European Union’s sanctions list to which she was added in April. The immobilization was unsuccessfully challenged in Spanish courts in March by Sulberg Services Limited, a company registered as the yacht’s owner in the Equasis shipping database. Sulberg argued that Spanish authorities could not prove who owned the yacht and could therefore not freeze it. A Madrid court rejected the claim in April.