US pay $ 600 thousand a month for keeping the yacht of the Russian oligarch Kerimov

The 348-foot yacht Amadea, which is likely to belong to the Russian billionaire Suleiman Kerimov, was confiscated at Fiji in April 2022 at the request of the US Government. Kerimov came under US sanctions in 2018 for being an official of the Russian government and then in 2022 he sued the United Kingdom and the European Union because of his close ties with Vladimir Putin. The yacht arrived in the US in June 2022, and since then the US has been paying $ 600,000 a month for its maintenance.

According to the court documents submitted on Friday in New York, a huge monthly amount covers $ 360,000 per crew salary, $ 75,000 per fuel and $ 165,000 for maintenance, garbage, food and other expenses. "The cost of maintaining" Amadei "is far from modest, and there is a good reason to deprive the government and the public from the need to bear these costs," the application said. It is not just about the accumulation of monthly payments.

The US Department of Justice has stated that this month it would pay an annual insurance account of $ 1. 7 million. He will also have to pay $ 5. 6 million to send Amadea to dry dock for repair in March. Monthly payments will be stopped by this time. Before the court decides the fate of the vessel, the judge will first need to determine to whom Amadeus owns. On paper, the legal owner is Millemarin Investments, but the US claims that the beneficial owner and control is Cerimov.

The situation is even more complicated by the fact that Edward Khudynatov, the former head of the Russian oil company "Rosneft", says he is the legal owner. He has not been sanctioned by the United States and wants to return Amadeus to his native harbor. Khudaynatov's lawyers have stated that their customer would be reimbursed by the USA costs of keeping the yacht if they were returned. To date, the United States has spent about $ 20 million on Amadeus.

The lawyers also added that the arrest was "illegal". The United States rejected Khudaynatov's claim against ownership, but stated that he should pay for his maintenance until the court made a decision. Since it does not pay now, the government declares that it has the right to sell Amadeus.