UPDATE, OCTOBER 29, 2022: The superyacht Valerie has moved twice in recent weeks, one under authority control and one apparently in an attempt to depart Spain. For the former, authorities transferred the yacht from MB92 to Marina Vela on September 20. A transport ministry source confirmed this to Reuters. The source added that the shipyard had not received payment for repairs following her immobilization under sanctions. Neither MB92 nor Marina Vela have commented. Shortly thereafter, the nameboards of the yacht changed, to Meridian A. However, ownership records do not reveal her changing hands.
The second incident occurred on October 20. The Spanish newspaper El Confidencial reports that the management team for Meridian A requested permission for her to depart the port. Although initially received, that changed before she could leave the dock. A call to the Comandancia de Marina revealed that Meridian A was the same superyacht as Valerie. Not only did she need to remain at the dock, but the Guardia Civil national police arrived and boarded her.
Read on for our original article.
Last evening Spanish authorities detained a vessel whose owner may have ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin. The superyacht Valerie is under “provisional retention,” a term authorities indicate is not the same as seizure.
Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez of Spain mentioned a yacht on television last evening. Notably, he didn’t name her, plus he corrected himself in referring to the measures. “Today we seized—the technical term is provisionally immobilized—a yacht belonging to one of the principal oligarchs,” Sanchez says. Subsequently, the Ministry of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda (MITMA) confirmed the 279-footer’s (85-meter) identity in a press release.
Valerie has been undergoing work at MB92 in Barcelona since early February. Delivery of the 46-foot-beam (14-meter-beam) yacht took place in 2011 from Lürssen. Available for charter, the superyacht had actors Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez aboard last summer for Lopez’s birthday. When we contacted MB92 for comment, a spokesperson provided a statement. “MB92 is cooperating with the authorities and will continue to do so,” it reads. “Active compliance has always been imperative for MB92 Group.”
In indicating the superyacht Valerie is under restrictions, MITMA says the Barcelona captaincy will oversee the yacht and the crew. The yacht “will be immobilized if it belongs to persons or entities included in the list of the European Council,” it further says. In fact, MITMA doesn’t mention confirmation of ownership. Rather, it says, information collection will begin to validate the real ownership. Specifically, government agencies will investigate whether the beneficial owner is under European Union sanctions related to the invasion of Ukraine.
Notably, last October, the investigative journalists behind the Pandora Papers release reported that a British Virgin Islands company belonging to a Russian lists Valerie as its asset. That Russian is the stepdaughter of Sergei Chemezov, the CEO of Rostec, a state-owned military-industrial company. He has been under U.S. and European Union sanctions since 2014 and British sanctions since 2020. Both stem from Russia’s annexation of Crimea and Chemezov’s ties to Putin dating to their days in the KGB. Australia and the United States placed him under further sanctions this month, related to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The United States added his stepdaughter, along with his wife and his son, to its sanctions list, too.
In related news, Anastasia, the yacht which a Ukrainian crewmember tried to sink last month, is reportedly under detention in Port Adriano marina. The crewmember told a judge upon his arrest, “The owner of this ship is a criminal who makes a living selling weapons, and now they kill Ukrainians.” The 156’6” (47.73-meter) Anastasia reportedly belongs to Alexander Mikheyev, the CEO of the state arms seller Rosoboronexport. Mikheyev is under both European Union and U.S. sanctions. Anastasia suffered damage but did not fully sink. Police later released the crewmember.
A spokesperson for Port Adriano confirmed the yacht cannot leave the port without permission from authorities. It had no additional comment.
Leave a Reply