A pleasure yacht under the sanctions of Oleg Deripaska, one of Russia’s most influential oligarchs, has arrived in the Maldives.
Non-European luxury resorts and private airports are buzzing.
Yachts of several Russian billionaires are on their way to the Indian Ocean after the U.S. and Europe blocked ships from entering ports.
The International Maritime Organization (IMO) has announced that the pleasure boat Clio has dropped anchor in a port near Male, the capital of the Maldives. Clio is registered in the Cayman Islands. The Russian oligarch owning it Oleg Deripaska has been on the U.S. passenger sanctions list since the war in Ukraine, since 2018.
Luxury yachts will soon line up in Asian ports
At least two other Russian yachts are reportedly on their way to Male. The Maldives has no extradition agreement with the United States.
According to the news agency AFP, the port already has a steel magnet Alexander Abramovin owned Titan yacht.
The Maldives has become a popular holiday destination for both the Russian and Ukrainian economic elites. The island nation of South Asia was among the first to open its borders to tourists after the peak of the pandemic stabilized.
According to Maldivian tourism authorities, more than 20,000 Russian tourists visited the islands in January. There were more than 7,000 Ukrainians.
Chelsea owner of a yacht collection
The ship, which cost more than a billion dollars, has, among other things, its own missile defense system and bulletproof armor goggles.
The new home ports of the yachts have been speculated in the resorts favored by the wealthy.