Igor Sechin is the chief executive of Russian energy giant Rosneft (File)
Paris:
The French government said on Thursday it has seized a superyacht owned by a company linked to Igor Sechin, the chief executive officer of Russian energy giant Rosneft and a close aide of President Vladimir Putin.
The finance ministry said the ship, Amore Vero, was seized at a shipyard in La Ciotat near Marseille.
“French customs seized the Amore Vero yacht in La Ciotat as part of the implementation of sanctions by the European Union against Russia,” it said in a statement.
The yacht was owned by a company “in which Sechin is the main shareholder”.
The 85.6 m (280 ft) boat was built by Netherlands-based yacht builder Oceanco and includes a swimming pool that turns into a helipad, as well as a multi-deck with a Jacuzzi.
The boat was delivered in 2013, the manufacturer states on its website.
Forbes magazine has reported that German authorities have also confiscated the superyacht Dilbar belonging to billionaire Alisher Usmanov, but this has not been confirmed.
The French Riviera coast has long been a playground for ultra-wealthy Russians, with many spending their summers in yachts or luxury villas.
Paris said last week it was compiling a list of properties in France owned by the elite including yachts, luxury cars and properties.
“If I were an oligarch in Russia or France, I would be worried,” French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said on Monday.
The European Union added more Kremlin-linked businessmen and Putin’s spokesman to its sanctions blacklist that day.
Sechin was the highest profile name along with pipeline mammoth Transneft boss Nikolay Tokarev.
Three people were also added by Forbes to Russia’s top 10 richest people: metal magnate Alexey Mordashov, Usmanov, and businessman and Putin friend Gennady Timchenko.
Sechin is seen as one of Russia’s most powerful men, well beyond his leadership of the Rosneft energy giant.
Like Putin, he is from St. Petersburg and has worked with the president from the early days of his career in the city’s mayor’s office through the 1990s.
(Except for the title, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)