Nearly one month to the day after a government-ordered auction, the yacht Alfa Nero still has not left the dock. Alfa Nero remains in Antigua because the Antigua and Barbuda Cabinet is trying to grant immunity to the buyer from potential future lawsuits. The concern exists due to recent lawsuits from an individual repeatedly attempting to stop the sale, including this week, over claims she is the rightful owner.
The 269-footer (82-meter) arrived in Falmouth Harbor in February 2022 and has remained there ever since. In March of this year, the government declared Alfa Nero “abandoned” due to lack of maintenance, the crew going unpaid, and the fuel provider being unpaid. The declaration put in motion a series of events that led up to the auction on June 16. Government officials revealed that Eric Schmidt, an American venture capitalist and philanthropist, submitted the winning bid. In fact, according to the officials, Schmidt’s bid was $67.6 million, meeting the minimum $60-million threshold. (Schmidt’s foundation declined to respond to our request for comment at the time.)
Under the terms of the auction, Schmidt had seven days to provide payment, or the yacht would go to the next closest bidder. (That person, government representatives say, submitted a $66-million bid.) However, as of this writing, Alfa Nero remains in Antigua because Schmidt has not concluded the transaction. It’s due to ongoing litigation by the daughter of the owner who abandoned the yacht.
Yulia Guryeva-Motlokhov, the daughter of Andrey Guryev, filed suit just after the auction, claiming a stake in the yacht. The U.S. Department of Justice, though, says her father, a Russian fertilizer magnate currently under sanctions, acquired the superyacht in 2014. Guryev himself has repeatedly denied owning Alfa Nero, instead saying he only cruised aboard.
Guryeva-Motlokhov’s suit was dismissed by the High Court in Antigua on June 30. However, on July 12, lawyers filed an appeal on her behalf. It indicates that Gurieva-Motlokhov is the “sole adult discretionary beneficiary” of two trusts, each of which owns two companies that in turn own the yacht and artwork aboard.
Notably, yet another lawsuit preceded the auction. Flying Dutchman, a company registered in the British Virgin Islands, filed an injunction on Guryeva-Motlokhov’s behalf. But, here, too, the High Court dismissed it.
Because of the first two lawsuits, the Antigua and Barbuda Cabinet earlier this month issued a statement providing Schmitt a guarantee against future litigation. “Further delays, the Cabinet fears, may frustrate the purchaser,” it reads. “The Cabinet’s decision will bring an end to the wasteful and frivolous litigation by the Russian citizen.” Melford Nicholas, the nation’s information minister, explained to reporters, “We’re prepared to grant an indemnity to the buyer against that liability. And so the liability will stay with Antigua and Barbuda.”
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