Farkhad Akhmedov
Mega-yacht as a million-dollar bunker: Expensive art confiscated on the yacht “Luna” in Hamburg
The yacht “Luna” (IMO 1010222) by Farchad Achmedow has been stuck in the port of Hamburg for over a year due to sanctions.
© Stephan Wallocha / Imago Images
Oligarch Farchad Akhmedow has been annoyed for months that his yacht “Luna” is stuck in the port of Hamburg. He explicitly asked the EU to hand the ship back to him. But things get worse for him: investigators confiscated an expensive art collection that was on board.
This is the second case in which expensive art has been found and confiscated on board (or in warehouses) of a yacht (Putin’s top oligarch stored millions of artworks in Hamburg). Recently, officers of the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) repeatedly boarded the mega-yacht “Luna” owned by the Russian businessman Farchad Akhmedov, which was stranded in Hamburg.
Sanctions for billionaires
4.2 billion US dollars on the chain: These luxury yachts of Russian oligarchs are stuck
After “Mirror“The officials seized paintings and art worth several million euros. Investigations are underway against Achmedow on suspicion of violating the Foreign Trade Act. In addition, he should have reported assets to the Deutsche Bundesbank and the Federal Office for Economics and Export Control after his sanctions, which he apparently didn’t do.
Oligarch Akhmedov fights for his yacht and loses more and more
Originally, Farkhad was named after Akhmedov information from the EU sanctioned for the following reasons: “Farkhad Akhmedov is a Russian businessman active in the energy sector and in Russian local politics. He founded Tansley Trading, which supplies Russian gas producers with equipment, and became a minority shareholder in Nortgas, an oil and gas company in Siberia and Chairman of Bechtel Energy. Close to the Kremlin, he is a leading businessman and active in sectors of the economy that are important sources of income for the Government of the Russian Federation.”
Akhmedov sees it completely differently, which is why he asked for his yacht back last year and fought for the sanctions to be lifted. In a phone call to music producer Iosif Prigozhin, he said: “You write that I am a friend of Putin. I haven’t seen him since 2008. In 2012, after a 12-year war with Gazprom, I sold everything and left Russia.”
Apparently he just has no luck with his “Luna”. In 2014, he bought the yacht from Roman Abramovich for around $200 million. The ship then went to Bremerhaven for restoration and repair work. In 2016, the work was finished, and Akhmedov paid another $ 50 million. Shortly thereafter, the ship became a pawn in his divorce. Only after a long legal battle did an appeals court in Dubai award him the yacht. It has been confiscated since May 2022 because of the sanctions.
“If only I had left the boat in Dubai”
In the said telephone conversation, Achmedow was annoyed that he had the “Luna” brought to Germany before the war. He complains to his friend Prigozhin: “If only I had left the boat in Dubai. But no, I was told that it can be best maintained where it was built.” The 115 meter long “Luna” was built in 2010 by Lloyd Werft in Bremerhaven.
In fact, he would probably still be in possession of the “Luna” if the ship had stayed in Emirates waters. Since the outbreak of the war, Turkey’s ports and coast have proved to be a comparatively safe way of retaining ships. However, if you find them within reach of countries whose owners are on the sanctions list, things can happen very quickly (How the billionaires keep their luxury yachts safe).