ROYAL ROMANCE

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Seized yacht granted a certificate of the right to fly the state flag of Ukraine

The 'Royal Romance' belonging to the oligarch Viktor Medvedchuk, has been granted a certificate of the right to fly the state flag of Ukraine on May 15, 2024, and the corresponding changes have already been registered with the International Maritime Organization (IMO). This statement was made by the Ukrainian Asset Recovery and Management Agency (ARMA). Through joint efforts of the Asset Recovery and Management Agency and the Shipping Administration, the seizedluxury yacht Royal has been granted the status of a Ukrainian vessel, which means that the vessel is under Ukrainian jurisdiction. According to Shipping Administration Head Yevhen Ihnatenko, the corresponding changes were registered with the IMO. This will facilitate the further sale of the seized yacht and the transfer of the proceeds to the state budget of Ukraine. The Dutch auction house, Troostwijk Auctions, won the ARMA’s tender to auction the seized yacht, but refused to sign a further agreement to organize the auction. The yacht, worth an estimated 200 million Euros, was seized by Croatian authorities in March 2022 in relation to EU sanctions imposed on Medvedchuk.

Superyacht of pro-Russian oligarch may be auctioned

The Dutch auction house Troostwijk Auctions may auction the 'Royal Romance' of the pro-Russian oligarch Viktor Medvedchuk from Ukraine. This was decided by the Ukrainian government agency Asset Recovery and Management Agency (ARMA). According to Troostwijk director Arno Hendrikse, this is the most expensive object that his auction house has ever auctioned.

Ukraine to auction Medvedchuk's yacht

The Ukraine is planning to auction the seized 'Royal Romance' of ex-MP Medvedchuk with a price tag estimated above 130 million Euros.The market value of the yacht will be determined by the organizer of the auction for its sale, who will be chosen by Ukraine's Asset Recovery and Management Agency (ARMA) after a competition. The insured value of the yacht was €137 million as of 2020. In 2015, the yacht was purchased for approximately €200 million. During these years, the vessel has been used, there is depreciation, so it was unlikely that the same amount can be expected at the time of sale. However, according to the documents that were seized during the arrest in 2022 and are currently kept by the Croatian police, in 2020 the yacht was insured for €137 million. The future auction organizer will hire an appraiser and officially determine the starting price of the 'Royal Romance', at which the asset will be put up for sale. The money from the sale of the yacht will go to the budget for strengthening defense capabilities. An English auction will be held, which will be announced again in the event of absence of buyers. The yacht has been under the management of ARMA for sale since April 2022. It took 1,5 years to approve the mechanism for its sale abroad, because it is impossible to deliver the yacht to Ukraine due to the war. In December 2022, ARMA had confirmation from four international auction houses that they were interested in selling the 'Royal Romance'. Ukraine handed over Medvedchuk to Russia in September 2022 in exchange for 200 soldiers captured in Mariupol.