Fiji court rules Russian yacht to stay in South Pacific nation for now

By Lucy Craymer and Kirsty Needham

WELLINGTON (Reuters) – A Fiji courtroom has dominated that the $300 million yacht allegedly owned by Russian oligarch Suleiman Kerimov and seized by the US should stay in Fiji for now.

The Fiji Court docket of Attraction has dominated that the luxurious yacht Amadea cannot be moved out of the South Pacific island nation till an attraction in opposition to the seizure is heard, defence lawyer Feizal Haniff, who’s appearing for the Amadea’s registered proprietor Millemarin Funding Ltd, confirmed in an e-mail.

The U.S. embassy in Suva didn’t instantly reply to a request for touch upon the newest courtroom ruling.

A Fiji courtroom had dominated that the US may seize the Russian-owned superyacht, weeks after it arrived and it was seized by the native police and FBI brokers on Thursday.

Authorities in varied international locations have seized luxurious vessels and villas owned by Russian billionaires in response to sanctions imposed on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine, which the Kremlin calls a particular navy operation.

Kerimov was sanctioned by the US in 2014 and 2018 in response to Russia’s actions in Syria and Ukraine. He has additionally been sanctioned by the European Union.

Attorneys for Millemarin Funding Ltd beforehand instructed the courtroom that Amadea was owned by one other Russian oligarch, Eduard Khudainatov, the previous chief of Russian vitality big Rosneft (ROSN.MM), who has not been sanctioned, media reported.

In a single day a luxurious yacht reportedly owned by Khudainatov price some $700 million was impounded by police in Italy.

(Reporting by Lucy Craymer; Modifying by Michael Perry)