eugene shvidler yacht

UK government tells Russian tycoons they aren’t getting their impounded yachts and private jets back

A billionaire ally of Roman Abramovich and a Russian owner of a brand new superyacht lost their appeals challenging the UK’s sanctions regime, bolstering the government’s pursuit of Russian assets.

Eugene Shvidler, who’s been described as Abramovich’s “right hand man,” lost his attempt to lift the asset freeze, in the first Court of Appeal decision on the strict measures imposed since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

He argued he’s faced “serious hardships” after he saw his private jets impounded by the UK, and pushed back at suggestions he was a close confidant of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Separately, Sergei Naumenko, a wealthy Russian property developer who isn’t sanctioned, lost his appeal over the detention of his superyacht in London’s Canary Wharf.

The rulings were handed down Tuesday against the backdrop of wider government discussions over the confiscation of around $300 billion of frozen assets held by the Russian central bank. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has  called  for Western nations to be more aggressive in seizing frozen Russian assets and passing the proceeds on to Ukraine to finance its defense.

“I would accept that these sanctions are both severe and open-ended,” Judge Rabinder Singh said in the ruling. “If sanctions are to be effective, a serious price has to be paid.”

In the UK, the government has so far won every court challenge made by sanctions targets. 

“I suspect there will be a few sighs of relief in Whitehall,” said David Savage, a lawyer at HFW. “The UK has cast a very wide net of sanctions and asset seizures, and the position of the courts has been that the importance of ending the turmoil in Ukraine outweighs any infringement of individual right.”

Shvidler had sought to argue that the-then Transport Secretary Grant Shapps pressured the Foreign Office to place restrictions on him. He’d said that the government rushed the sanctions out against him as Shapps’ officials worried that they would have to release his aircraft from a private airfield without the formal restrictions. 

The billionaire, who now lives in the US, plans to appeal the judges’ finding to the Supreme Court, according to his lawyers.

“The Court of Appeal has clearly given considerable deference to the government in matters of foreign policy. If it stands, it will make it virtually impossible for any person sanctioned by the UK Government to bring a successful legal challenge,” they said.

Meanwhile Shapps also faced criticism from the judge over his comments when the superyacht Phi was detained. He’d incorrectly accused Naumenko of being “connected with Putin,” a statement that “ought not to have been said,” the judge wrote.

“Today’s ruling, once again validates our decision to detain the Phi superyacht,” a spokesperson for the transport department said. “We’ll continue to act where necessary to crack down on those benefiting from Putin’s regime and their illegal war in Ukraine.”

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LE GRAND BLEU Yacht – Elegant $150M Superyacht

LE GRAND BLEU Yacht was first built in 2000 by Bremer Bulkan Shipyard and has had a few updates since then.

Despite her age, she continues to be a trailblazer in the superyacht industry. To this day, LE GRAND BLEU is still one of only 58 motor yachts that measure longer than 100 meters.

LE GRAND BLEU yacht

This vessel has seen a few different owners over the years.

Specifications

Measuring a grand 112 meters long, there is no wonder the LE GRAND BLEU yacht is known for its massive size. Her large size can house up to 20 guests and 35 crew members. Two Deutz engines power the superyacht, giving a max speed of 17 knots.

LE GRAND BLEU has an aluminum superstructure and a steel hull. One of the most notable changes in LE GRAND BLEU over the years was her refit in 2008.

While docked in Florida, they added a wastewater treatment system to LE GRAND BLEU to reuse wastewater and not dump it into the ocean.

Wastewater from ships is a huge source of water pollution, so it is great to see these changes.

Despite its large size, LE GRAND BLEU yacht does not sacrifice elegance and class. Designed by the famous Italian architect, Stefano Pastrovich, LE GRAND BLEU yacht has a sleek design that gives off a sense of sophistication.

Pastrovich is known in the superyacht industry as one of the best designers for both the interior and exterior of yachts. He definitely proved that with this ship.

LE GRAND BLEU interior

Some of the water toys include a 22-meter Dubois sailing yacht, a Sunseeker motor yacht, two Buzzi sports boats, and a landing craft that carries a 4×4 Land Rover. The garage does not only hold all of these tenders, though.

It also houses the superyacht’s own aquarium, so visitors can see the marine life of the ocean without having to go diving.

If that is not enough excitement, a new beach club was installed on LE GRAND BLEU for guests to enjoy the ocean view from the best spot on the ship. 

This superyacht has withstood the test of time and continues to defeat records. Over the years, the LE GRAND BLEU yacht has only become better with age and grown to become what it is today.

It has been fascinating to see the many changes and additions to this vessel, and it will be exciting to see how it can top itself in the future.

Do you have anything to add to this listing?

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LE GRAND BLEU

Le Grand Bleu was built for US telecommunications baron John McCaw and was subsequently sold to the Russian businessman Roman Abramovich, who had it refitted to his own preferences, including the addition of a 16ft swim platform at the stern. According to Internet sources, Abramovich passed Le Grand Bleu to his friend and business associate Eugene Shvidler in June 2006. The yacht has a crew of 65 and carries a veritable arsenal of tenders and watertoys, both on her aft decks and in her extensive below-deck garage, where there is a large aquarium. Her watercraft include a 22 metre Dubois-designed sailing yacht, Bellatrix; a 21 metre Sunseeker motor yacht; two 11 metre, 60-knot Buzzi sports boats; and a landing craft to carry a 4x4 Land Rover used for excursions ashore.

About LE GRAND BLEU , brought to you by BOAT Pro

LE GRAND BLEU is a 112.8 m Motor Yacht, built in Germany by Bremer Vulkan and delivered in 2000.

Her top speed is 17.0 kn and her cruising speed is 15.0 kn and her power comes from two Deutz-MWM diesel engines. She can accommodate up to 20 guests in 10 staterooms, with 35 crew members. She has a gross tonnage of 5496.0 GT and a 17.68 m beam.

She was designed by Kono-Design and Kusch Yachts .

The naval architecture was developed by Kusch Yachts , and the interior of the yacht was designed by Di Pilla , Tnt and Bannenberg Design (3 other superyacht interiors designed) - she is built with a Teak deck, a Steel hull, and Steel superstructure.

LE GRAND BLEU is in the top 5% by LOA in the world. She is one of 70 motor yachts longer than 100m.

LE GRAND BLEU is currently sailing under the Palau flag (along with a total of other 9 yachts). She is known to be an active superyacht and has most recently been spotted cruising near Puerto Rico. For more information regarding LE GRAND BLEU's movements, find out more about BOAT Pro AIS .

Specifications

• Name: LE GRAND BLEU
• Yacht Type: Motor Yacht
• Yacht Subtype: Displacement , Expedition Yacht
• Builder: Bremer Vulkan
• Naval Architect: Kusch Yachts
• Exterior Designer: Kono-Design , Kusch Yachts
• Interior Designer: Di Pilla , Tnt , Bannenberg Design

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Seized or sailing away: What we know about oligarchs and their assets

ROMAN ABRAMOVICH

Oleg deripaska, vladimir potanin, igor sechin, alexey mordashov, eugene shvidler, vladimir soloviev, gennady timchenko, oleg savchenko, mikhail fridman, alexander abramov, andrey igorevich melnichenko, alexander mikheyev, sergei chemezov.

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Sanctioned oligarch and superyacht owner lose Court of Appeal bids

A n oligarch sanctioned in the wake of the invasion of Ukraine and a businessman whose superyacht was detained by the Government have both lost Court of Appeal bids.

Eugene Shvidler, who was born in the former Soviet Union before moving to the US as a stateless refugee in 1989, was sanctioned by the Foreign Office using 2019 regulations over his links to Roman Abramovich and to a steel mining company with operations in Russia.

The billionaire brought a legal challenge against the decision, made in March 2022, in a bid to be relieved from the sanctions, and his case was the first of its kind to be considered by the High Court.

Mr Shvidler, who holds dual UK and US nationality, sought a declaration that his designation under post-Brexit regulations on sanctions was unlawful, and an order quashing the designation.

After his bid was dismissed at the High Court, Mr Shvidler took his case to the Court of Appeal alongside Russian businessman Sergei Naumenko.

Mr Naumenko had brought his own legal action over the detention of the £38 million custom-built superyacht The Phi, which remains docked in Canary Wharf, east London.

In March 2022, then-Transport Secretary Grant Shapps posted a photo of himself with the yacht on X, formerly known as Twitter, as well as a TikTok video, announcing its detention.

Mr Naumenko and two companies challenged the move but lost a High Court bid.

And in a ruling on Tuesday, both men lost their appeals.

Mr Shvidler’s lawyers had argued that the impact of the sanctions on him and his family were “manifestly disproportionate”, with two of his children required to leave their UK schools after his designation.

In the 55-page judgment, Lord Justice Singh said: “I would accept that these sanctions are both severe and open-ended.

“But this does not meet the fundamental point that sanctions often have to be severe and open-ended if they are to be effective.

“If sanctions are to be effective, a serious price has to be paid by those who are within the definition of people to be designated under the 2019 Regulations.

“On the other side of the balance is Russia’s very serious violation of international law and the need to bring the invasion of Ukraine to an end.”

Addressing Mr Naumenko’s appeal, Lord Justice Singh – sitting with Sir Geoffrey Vos and and Lady Justice Whipple – said the Foreign Office has not designated the businessman as being “involved” in activities against Ukraine or having “obtained a benefit” from supporting the Russian authorities.

However, he continued: “Given the likely direct and indirect links between Mr Naumenko’s wealth, economic activities, and the Russian state, it is rational to consider that he is the sort of individual on whom sanctions could effect the ‘broad and deep impact’ which Parliament intended via the ‘connected with Russia’ powers in, at least, weakening their tacit support for the regime.”

To save his $175 million superyacht from being damaged by hurricane Fiona. This sanctioned oligarch and a close friend of Roman Abramovich casually moved his 370-ft vessel from Puerto Rico to Venezuela and back. Its transponders are now switched off.

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A Brief History of Superyachts

And how they explain the world..

Tim Murphy January+February 2024 Issue

James Clapham

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When the US targeted Russia’s oligarchs after the invasion of Ukraine, the trail of assets kept leading to our own backyard. Not only had our nation become a haven for shady foreign money, but we were also incubating a familiar class of yacht-owning, industry-dominating, resource-extracting billionaires. In the  January + February 2024  issue of our magazine, we investigate the rise of American Oligarchy—and what it means for the rest of us. You can read all the pieces  here .

The luxury yacht may be the world’s most exclusive form of transportation. But there are only a hundred-some that meet the definition of a gigayacht—a pleasure craft 295 feet or longer. Their opaque ownership records offer a glimpse of modern wealth and power: Over two dozen are linked to Gulf royals, businessmen, or states, and 20 to citizens (past or current) of the former Soviet Union. At least 23 have reportedly belonged to Americans, including founders of Microsoft, Netscape, Amazon, WhatsApp, and Snapchat. The widow of a German retailer who thrived under Hitler owned one; a UK tax exile and a Formula 1 dad still do. Yugoslav strongman Tito’s old yacht makes the list; Dominican dictator Trujillo’s does too. Take a cruise through the history of the vessels and their—somewhat—more modest sister ships.

1895: Nineteen years before World War I, the future King Edward VII of England punches his nephew, Kaiser Wilhelm II, in the face, after the German’s 121-foot yacht, Meteor II , defeats the royal Britannia in a race off the Isle of Wight.

1954: Greek shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis ushers in an era of postwar one-upmanship with his 325-foot Christina O . It features a pool that converts into a dance floor, furniture made from whale foreskin, and pornographic carvings.

1963: During his final birthday party aboard the presidential yacht Sequoia , JFK chases future Washington Post editor Ben Bradlee’s wife, Antoinette, into the bathroom and gropes her. “I guess I was pretty surprised, but I was kind of flattered, and appalled, too,” she says later. The ship’s visitor logs are destroyed after Kennedy’s assassination.

1984: King Fahd of Saudi Arabia builds the record-breaking 482-foot Prince Abdulaziz .

1987: Sen. Gary Hart (D-Colo.) drops out of the presidential race just before photos emerge of him with model Donna Rice aboard the yacht Monkey Business .

1988: Donald Trump acquires Nabila , which previously belonged to the Saudi arms dealer Adnan Khashoggi and was featured in the James Bond film Never Say Never Again . He renames it Trump Princess , adds a disco, and changes the helipad’s “H” to a “T.”

1991: After one of Trump’s casinos files for bankruptcy, he sells Trump Princess to his bank—which flips it to a Saudi prince. A new yacht, the Trump Princess II , which he boasted would be “something in excess of 400 feet long, closer to 500 feet,” is never built.

British publisher Robert Maxwell’s body is found in the Atlantic Ocean, where he had been cruising on a 180-footer named for his daughter—the Lady Ghislaine . The vessel is eventually resold to Anna Murdoch, Rupert’s second wife.

1994: At a cocktail party on the oligarch Petr Aven’s yacht in the Caribbean, Boris Berezovsky meets Roman Abramovich, calling him a “nice boy who wanted to discuss commercial projects.” He and Abramovich begin working together to acquire Sibneft, a Russian state oil company.

1997: Construction ends on The Limited and Victoria’s Secret owner Les Wexner’s ­316-foot Limitless . The project was overseen by his good friend Jeffrey Epstein.

1999: Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison buys the 191-foot Izanami from a Japanese seller. He changes the name to Ronin , he said later , after “the local newspapers started pointing out that Izanami was ‘I’m a Nazi’ spelled backwards.”

2001: Months before Enron files for bankruptcy, former CEO Jeffrey Skilling asks a company executive for advice on finding a yacht broker. “This industry is known for crooks and thieves,” he warns Skilling.

2002: House Majority Whip Tom DeLay (R-Texas) promises to strip “corporate kingpins of their ill-gotten gains,” after scandals rock Enron and WorldCom. “We’re coming after the yacht.”

2003: DeLay charges donors $500,000 a pop for tickets to a yacht cruise.

2005: Ellison shoots down rumors he issued orders midconstruction to have his newest yacht, the 454-foot Rising Sun , extended to outdo Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen’s recently launched 414-foot Octopus .

Rep. Duke Cunningham (R-Calif.) pleads guilty to federal bribery charges after being caught living rent-free on a yacht, called the Duke-Stir , that was moored in Washington, DC, and owned by a defense contractor.

Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum’s 531-foot Dubai surpasses Prince Abdulaziz as the world’s longest yacht.

2006: Media mogul Barry Diller reveals the world’s longest sailing yacht, the 305-foot Eos , whose prow features a 9-foot-tall sculpture of his wife, Diane von Furstenberg.

2007: Diller opens a Manhattan corporate headquarters­­ at a Frank Gehry­–designed building that itself has been likened to a sailboat . It’s across the street from where Eos ties up.

2008: George Osborne, the No. 2 official in the UK’s Conservative Party, relaxes on Russian aluminum magnate Oleg Deripaska’s yacht while vacationing with his family in Greece. He denies an accusation that he solicited funds, explaining in a statement that they discussed “Russian history” and drank tea.

2009: As his marriage falls apart, Tiger Woods retreats to a 155-foot yacht called Privacy .

2010: Abramovich’s new ship, Eclipse , surpasses Dubai as the world’s longest yacht. The 533-foot vessel features a submarine, anti-missile systems, and lasers to thwart paparazzi .

2011: During an unsuccessful suit seeking $5 billion he believed Abramovich owed him from the sale of Sibneft, an exiled Berezovsky claims that his former partner helped purchase the yacht Olympia for Vladimir Putin. When the BBC publishes a supporting account from another Russian businessman five years later, Abramovich’s lawyers dismiss the allegation as “a rehash of speculation and rumours.”

2012: As GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney faces criticism for holding investment funds in the Cayman Islands, his campaign invites donors to party on Cracker Bay . The ship, owned by the founder of The Villages retirement community, flies the Cayman Islands’ flag.

2013: UAE leader Khalifa bin Zayed al Nahyan launches the 593-foot Azzam , surpassing the Eclipse .

2014: The Wall Street Journal reports that Ellison has basketball hoops on “at least two of his yachts” and had someone follow in a smaller boat “to retrieve balls that go overboard.”

2016: Allen’s Tatoosh drags its anchor through a protected zone in the Cayman Islands, destroying 14,000 square feet of coral.

2017: After leaving office, Barack and Michelle Obama retreat to the South Pacific aboard David Geffen’s yacht, where they’re joined by Oprah, Tom Hanks, and Bruce Springsteen.

Abramovich’s business partner, Eugene Shvidler, blocks views of the Statue of Liberty while anchoring his 370-foot Le Grand Bleu in New York Harbor for a month.

Addressing the national Boy Scout Jamboree, Trump tells an anecdote widely assumed to allude to sex parties on a yacht belonging to the developer of the Levittown suburbs. “You’re Boy Scouts, so I’m not going to tell you what he did,” he said. “But you know life.”

Rep. Vern Buchanan (R-Fla.) buys a yacht and on the same day votes to cut taxes on yachts.

2018: Rupert Murdoch is airlifted to UCLA after collapsing on a yacht trip with his fourth wife, Jerry Hall. “He kept almost dying,” a source tells Vanity Fair .

Republican Florida Gov. Rick Scott designates a billionaire donor’s marina as a special anti-­poverty opportunity zone.

Someone unties Seaquest , a superyacht belonging to Trump administration Secretary of Education (and billionaire) Betsy DeVos, causing it to crash into a dock on Lake Erie.

Businessman Jho Low, who financed The Wolf of Wall Street , is accused of taking part in a $4.5 billion scheme to siphon Malaysian state development funds and using some to purchase a $250 million yacht.

2019: Actress Lori Loughlin is arrested in a college admissions bribery scheme . Her daughter, USC student Olivia Jade, is vacationing in the Bahamas— on a yacht belonging to USC board of trustees chair Rick Caruso.

Following an investigation into corruption in the Nigerian oil industry, the US government auctions off businessman Kolawole Aluko’s Galactica Star , six years after Jay-Z rented out the vessel for Beyoncé’s 32nd birthday. A former Enron unit attempts to claim a portion of the proceeds.

Clarence Thomas visits an Indonesian preserve for Komodo dragons with billionaire Harlan Crow on the conservative megadonor’s Michaela Rose .

ArtNet reports that a $450 million (reputed) da Vinci that was supposed to be in an Abu Dhabi museum has been spotted hanging in Mohammed bin Salman’s personal yacht, Serene .

Kylie Jenner holds her 22nd birthday party on Low’s yacht, now under new ownership.

2020: “[I]solated in the Grenadines avoiding the virus,” Geffen writes on Instagram from Rising Sun , which he purchased in 2010. “I’m hoping everybody is staying safe.”

Steve Bannon is arrested off the coast of Connecticut by US Postal Police while aboard the fugitive Chinese billionaire Guo Wengui’s 150-foot Lady May .

Liberty University President Jerry Falwell Jr. dresses up as a character from the TV show Trailer Park Boys for a costume party aboard a NASCAR mogul’s yacht. He later posts a photo of himself to Instagram with his fly unzipped and his arms around his wife’s assistant.

2021: NRA CEO Wayne LaPierre testifies that he took refuge on Illusions , a Hollywood producer’s yacht, after the Newtown and Parkland mass shootings. “I remember getting there going, ‘Thank God I’m safe, nobody can get me here.’”

During a bitter divorce, the Daily Mail reports that Tatiana Akhmedova, wife of the Russian Azerbaijani billionaire Farkhad Akhmedov, hired a team of British special forces veterans to seize his yacht, Luna , in an effort to enforce a Marshall Islands court ruling. They settle instead, and he keeps the boat.

Port Azure , dubbed the world’s first harbor designed exclusively for megayachts, opens in Gocek, Turkey. It bills itself as a place where “problems big and small go away.”

2022: Amid reports a historic bridge will be dismantled so Amazon founder Jeff Bezos’ newly built Koru can leave Rotterdam’s shipyards, residents threaten to pelt the sailboat with eggs . The city changes plans.

A Ukrainian mechanic is arrested in Mallorca for attempting to sink a vessel owned by his boss, a Russian arms dealer.

Biden promises oligarchs he’s going to “take their ill-begotten gains” after the invasion of Ukraine. “We’re going to seize their yachts.”

Washington Commanders owner Dan Snyder avoids a congressional subpoena on the team’s misogynistic culture while cruising the Mediterranean on his yacht, Lady S .

Missing Russian superyachts are spotted waiting out sanctions at Port Azure.

Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) criticizes Joe Biden for vacationing in Delaware while vacationing on a luxury yacht in Italy.

After sailing through Fiji on his yacht Aquarius , briefly retired Disney CEO Bob Iger tells friends he misses his wife and is bored with life.

New York Republican congressional candidate George Santos brokers a $19 million deal to sell a superyacht called Namaste to a Long Island car dealer.

Bankrupt crypto exchange FTX reveals in court filings that founder Sam Bankman-Fried’s hedge fund once spent $2.5 million on a yacht, which a top executive named Soak My Deck .

2023: Bezos takes possession of Koru . The $500 million, 417-foot sailboat comes with a bust that resembles his fiancée Lauren Sánchez—and its own second, 246-foot “shadow” support yacht with crew quarters and a hangar for the helicopter she pilots.

After divorcing Jerry Hall, Rupert Murdoch vacations on the Christina O with Abramovich’s ex-mother-in-law.

As TV and movie writers and actors strike, the Wall Street Journal reports that Iger, now back at work, has been regaling visitors to his Burbank office about the new, longer yacht he’s building.

Measuring Contest

Iconic gigayachts through the years

1931: Sea Cloud , Marjorie Post: 359 ft.

1981: Atlantis II , Stavros Niarchos: 380 ft.

2003: Octopus , Paul Allen: 414 ft.

2005: Rising Sun , Larry Ellison: 454 ft.

2010: Eclipse , Roman Abramovich: 533 ft.

2013: Azzam , Sheikh Khalifa: 593 ft.

Illustrations by Anthony Calvert

The Few, The Loud

Some famous faces aboard gigayachts

Steven Spielberg reeled out his anchor off Cannes.

A part of Katy Perry got stuck exiting a dinghy on her way to Barry Diller’s yacht.

Mohammed bin Salman purchased his yacht, Serene , just hours after he saw it.

Jerry Jones made a draft pick aboard his Bravo Eugenia to deepen the Cowboys’ bench.

Mariah Carey was engaged to a gigayacht owner, before the fantasy ended.

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2 Russian Oligarch’s Superyachts Just Seized: 1 Boat Is On the Run

Sanctioned Russian oligarch Eugene Shvidler’s two private jets were recently seized. That’s when he must have drawn a line. His Le Grand Bleu superyacht is now missing. The last whereabouts of the boat were around Puerto Rico. Meanwhile, Russian oligarch Suleiman Kerimov wasn’t so lucky. After a long search, his $300 million superyacht was seized in the remote Fiji Islands.

What Russian assets are western governments seizing?

Western governments have been snapping up private jets, yachts, property, and bank accounts of oligarchs after Russia invaded Ukraine. The Biden administration created the task force “KleptoCapture” in March. Its charge is to hunt down oligarch assets . 

“Last month, I warned that the department had its eyes on every yacht purchased with dirty money,” Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said in a statement. “This yacht seizure should tell every corrupt Russian oligarch that they cannot hide, not even in the remotest part of the world. We will use every means of enforcing the sanctions imposed in response to Russia’s unprovoked and unjustified war in Ukraine.”

This Russian oligarch’s boat is missing

That would include Shvidler’s superyacht, though its current whereabouts are unknown. Its last whereabouts were in Puerto Rico, according to NBC . At 370 feet, it should be easy to spot. In spite of its age, until recently it was considered one of the longest yachts ever made. 

The length accommodates two (not one!) helipads, two mega-tenders, an owner’s bed which also features a sliding ceiling above, and a glass-bottom observation deck. Where did the money from all of this come from? In the 1990s the Russian oil industry became privatized. Oligarchs made billions of dollars as a result. 

Kerimov was the recipient of this largesse. He was in the right place at the right time and had lots of other oil billionaires as friends. But now that association is getting him into trouble with various world powers over the sanctions. 

This Russian boat was snagged recently

As for the seized superyacht christened Amadea, it was the smaller 350-foot variety. Kerimov, according to the U.S. Treasury, helped Russia through corruption, and also the annexation of Crimea. That helped him take an official position with the Russian government. 

This yacht sleeps 16 people in eight cabins. The Amadea was last registered in the Caymans and is also thought to be worth $300 million. 

The Dilbar superyacht is another boat siezed

German officials seized another oligarch yacht last month. Thought to belong to Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov, after a thorough investigation of its registration, Usmanov’s sister Gulbakhor Ismailova actually owned it. 

This one surpasses the other two with a length of 500 feet. It also has two helipads. The U.S. Treasury Department estimates its worth to be almost $750 million.  

So what can we learn from all of this? Being a Russian oligarch is a good gig until your puppet master invades a country for no reason. Then, it’s not .

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Thom Taylor

Thom Taylor is a celebrated automotive journalist. He was awarded the Top 100 Most Influential People in Hot Rodding from Hot Rod Magazine, and was inducted into the Grand National Roadster Show Hall of Fame and the National Rod and Custom Hall of Fame. He’s a member of SEMA and the NHRA.

Thom has authored a number of books, including Hot Rod & Custom Chronicle and several guides for drawing vehicles like a pro, which pull from his distinguished ventures as an automotive illustrator.

Thom joined the MotorBiscuit team in 2019, and focuses his coverage on new vehicle releases, design, and the latest features and tech in the industry. His tenure of 25 years writing about the industry gives him a unique context for the auto news he covers, whether it’s part of the Rusty Monday series or the latest news from Chevy. Thom has built two complete cars from the ground up and driven vintage roadsters at the Indy 500.

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Roman Abramovich business associate loses appeal against UK sanctions

Eugene Shvidler loses crucial legal test case but plans to lodge new appeal to the UK supreme court

A business associate of the oligarch Roman Abramovich has failed in his latest attempt to overturn sanctions that were imposed on him after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in a case widely seen as a crucial legal test for the post-Brexit UK sanctions regime.

Eugene Shvidler, who served on the board of companies owned by Abramovich, was sanctioned by the UK government in March 2022 as part of measures to target Russia-linked oligarchs and officials after Vladimir Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine .

Shvidler challenged and lost a case against his sanctions at the high court last year.

He had claimed the measures caused disproportionate hardship and discriminated against him as a Russian-born person, and that he was not closely associated enough to Abramovich, the former owner of Chelsea football club, to justify being placed under sanctions, but the high court ruled in favour of the Foreign Office.

Shvidler then went to the court of appeal, which on Tuesday dismissed his latest challenge in a ruling that will be closely watched by sanctioned oligarchs wanting to bring their own legal challenges to the UK courts. Shvidler now plans to appeal against the decision at the UK’s supreme court.

Lord Justice Singh, giving the court’s ruling, rejected Shvidler’s complaint: “I would accept that these sanctions are both severe and open-ended. But this does not meet the fundamental point that sanctions often have to be severe and open-ended if they are to be effective.”

The UK government imposed sanctions on Shvidler on grounds including that he was associated with Abramovich, who in turn had obtained a benefit from or supported the government of Russia . The Foreign Office argued the men were associated because Shvidler was a long-serving director of Evraz, a steel and mining firm in which Abramovich was a major shareholder. It said he had also served as chair of Millhouse LLC, the Moscow-based arm of the UK company that managed assets for Abramovich and Shvidler himself.

The court of appeal dismissed arguments from Shvidler that he had no more received a financial benefit from Abramovich than had the other 70,000 Evraz employees and agreed with UK government arguments that it had “reasonable grounds to suspect that the appellant had received significant financial benefits from Mr Abramovich”.

Shvidler was born in the Soviet Union but moved to the US in 1989, and then to the UK in 2004. He gained citizenship of the US and UK and had never been a citizen of the Russian Federation, the ruling noted.

Shvidler’s lawyer, Michael O’Kane of Peters & Peters, said in a statement that if the ruling stood it would make it virtually impossible for any person sanctioned by the UK government to bring a successful legal challenge.

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“Despite this setback, Mr Shvidler retains his faith in the UK courts. Given the very important issues raised in this case and the ongoing impact of sanctions on him and his family, he intends to bring the matter before the supremecourt at the earliest opportunity,” the statement said.

Alexa Magee, a legal researcher at the campaign group Spotlight on Corruption, welcomed the ruling: “With two major appeal wins under its belt, the government has been given the green light to pursue sanctions with even greater ambition. While the court warned it will not rubber-stamp government decisions or give political hyperbole a free pass, these decisions show how high a bar there is for designation challenges to succeed.”

The UK Foreign Office said in a statement: “We welcome this judgment and the message it sends about the strength of the UK sanctions regime.”

• Roman Abramovich

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