War in Ukraine: the “Lady M”, yacht of a Russian oligarch who had stopped in Bordeaux, seized in Italy – Sud Ouest

Moored at the pontoon of honor, quai Richelieu, on the left bank, he was then passing through a “private visit” and the identity of his passengers had not been revealed.

“The Italian police have just seized the ‘Lady M’, a yacht worth 65 million euros belonging to Alexei Mordachov, stationed in Imperia (Liguria, north-western Italy), in accordance with the recent EU sanctions “, announced on his Twitter account the press adviser to the head of the Italian government Mario Draghi, Ferdinando Giugliano.

More than 500 Russian personalities and entities sanctioned

Steel magnate Alexei Mordachov is the owner of the steel group Severstal. He is one of the Russian oligarchs placed by the EU on a blacklist of personalities considered close to the Russian president. These personalities were sanctioned by a freezing of their assets and a ban on staying in the EU.

In a press release published Monday evening, Alexei Mordachov had wanted to distance himself from the Russian authorities.

“I have absolutely nothing to do with the current geopolitical tensions and I don’t understand why the EU imposed sanctions on me”

The first yacht immobilized as a result of these sanctions in the EU is the “Amore Vero”, seized Thursday in the French port of La Ciotat. The mega-yacht belongs to a company linked to the boss of the Russian oil giant Rosneft.

Symbols of the massive enrichment of senior Russian political and economic leaders, the yachts are among the assets they hold abroad targeted by Western sanctions.