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A superyacht owned by Russian oligarch Vladimir Strzhalkovsky, a former KGB agent and longtime ally of Vladimir Putin, is currently stuck at a Norwegian port because no one will sell it fuel.
“The yacht Ragnar has been unable to leave Norway due to discrimination from local fuel suppliers, who refuse to fuel Ragnar yacht,” the ship’s British captain, Rob Lancaster, wrote on a flyer in Narvik Port, according to the Norwegian public broadcaster NRK. “The yacht and its ultimate beneficial owner are on no European or UK sanction list, so we find the discrimination towards us, extremely unjust.”
The 220-foot boat was originally built as an ice-breaking support vessel for the fossil fuel industry in 2012, but was refitted into a yacht in 2020 and now features elaborate interiors, jetskis, an amphibious ATV, and a helideck.
Several lawmakers have called on the Norwegian government to seize the superyacht, but it sits stranded for now in Narvik Port, a harbor located in northern Norway.
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Strzhalkovsky, who once worked as Russia’s deputy minister of economy, received a $100 million golden parachute when he stepped down as CEO from the Norilsk Nickel mining company in 2012, the New York Times reported at the time.
The U.S. and European allies have worked to seize the assets of dozens of sanctioned Russian oligarchs in the wake of Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.
Earlier this week, Spain seized the 279-foot superyacht “Valerie” that is owned by Sergei Chemezov, a former KGB agent who runs the state-owned defense conglomerate Rostec.
“Today we seized – the technical term is provisionally immobilized – a yacht belonging to one of the principal oligarchs,” Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said Monday. “We are talking about a yacht that we estimate is worth $140 million.”
Superyacht Crescent, which has been detained by Spanish authorities, is seen docked at Marina Port Tarraco in Tarragona, amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Spain, March 16, 2022.
(REUTERS/ Albert Gea)
On Wednesday, Spanish authorities also seized the 440-foot superyacht “Crescent” owned by sanctioned Rosneft CEO Igor Sechin.
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Earlier this month, Italian authorities seized the $72 million, 213-foot “Lady M” yacht owned by steel baron Alexei Mordashov, Russia’s wealthiest man with a net worth of $30 billion.
Reuters contributed to this report.
