Billionaire Alisher Usmanov's £500m megayacht seized in EU crackdown

Net closes in on Everton-backing oligarch: Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov’s £500m 500ft-long megayacht is SEIZED in EU crackdown while Merseyside club suspends all ties with companies linked to him

• Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov was hit with sanctions by the EU on Monday 
• Oligarch has been criticised for links to Vladimir Putin following Ukraine invasion
• German officials seized his £500million megayacht Dilbar in Hamburg, Germany
• MP Chris Bryant has called for Usmanov to face similar sanctions in Britain
• Premier League club Everton suspended partnerships with Usmanov’s firm USM
• Today French authorities seized yacht belonging to firm linked to Igor Sechin
• Sechin is chief executive of Russian energy giant Rosneft and confidant of Putin

A £500million superyacht owned by billionaire Alisher Usmanov has been seized amid an EU crackdown on oligarchs with alleged links to Russian president Vladimir Putin. 

The 512-foot Dilbar, regarded as one of the largest motor yacht in the world, was seized by German authorities in Hamburg on Monday.

The seizure comes after Usmanov, an Uzbekistan-born billionaire with Russia citizenship, was sanctioned by the European Union in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Usmanov was, until recently, a key backer of Everton Football Club and is a business partner of Everton’s majority shareholder Farhad Moshiri. 

His companies provided the Premier League side with key sponsorship deals. But yesterday the Merseyside club confirmed it had suspended all commercial and sponsorship arrangements with Russian companies following the invasion of Ukraine.

Workers were last night seen taking down branding of Russian sponsors, Megafon, from Everton’s Goodison Park stadium.

The announcement was made as Chelsea FC owner Roman Abramovich revealed he was selling his west London club after nearly 20 years following criticism of his alleged links to Putin.      

Abramovich vehemently denies he is close to the Kremlin or has done anything that would merit sanctions being imposed against him. Usmanov meanwhile has says his sanctioning by the EU is ‘unfair’ and that the reasons to justify the sanctions are ‘false and defamatory’. 

Neither Abramovich or Usmanov have faced sanctions in the UK, despite calls by MPs for the Government to impose their own measures.

It comes as French authorities today they have seized a luxury superyacht belonging to a company linked to Igor Sechin, the chief executive of Russian energy giant Rosneft and a close confidant of Putin.

The vessel, Amore Vero, was seized in the French harbour of La Ciotat on the Cote d’Azur as part of EU sanctions agreed against Russia and is held by a company in which Sechin is the main shareholder, the French finance ministry said.

In a Tweet, sharing an official notice naming Sechin, French finance ministry Bruno Le Maire wrote: ‘A yacht belonging to a Russian oligarch has been seized. 

‘Thank you to the French customs officers who enforce the sanctions of the European Union against those close to the Russian authorities.’

Completely shrouded, the mega-yacht Dilbar lies in the Blohm Voss Dock Elbe 17 in the harbour

Sanctioned Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov’s megayacht has been seized by German authorities, it has been reported

The move is part of an asset freeze on Usmanov, 68, (pictured right with Putin at the Kremlin in 2018) after he was sanctioned by the EU in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine

Usmanov was, until recently, a key backer of Everton Football Club and is a business partner of Everton’s majority shareholder Farhad Moshiri. Pictured: Workers take down the branding of Everton sponsor Megafon at Goodison Park in Liverpool

Workers were last night seen taking down branding of Russian sponsors, Megafon, from Everton’s Goodison Park stadium

The son of an Uzbek state prosecutor who was once jailed for fraud before rising to become one of Russia’s richest oligarchs: Who is Alisher Usmanov?

Born in 1953 in the then Soviet-controlled Uzbek city of Churst, a relatively small settlement of around 70,000, nestled in the Fergana Valley to the north east of the country, Usmanov spent much of his childhood in the capital of Tashkent.

Usmanov, whose father was a state prosecutor, initially pursued a career as a diplomat and moved to Moscow, where he studied International Law.

He returned to Tashkent in 1980 and was later arrested and convicted on charges of fraud and ‘theft of socialist property’. He was imprisoned for six years of an eight-year sentence and his conviction was later vacated and ruled ‘unjust’ by the Supreme Court of Uzbekistan following the dissolution of the Soviet Union.

But even prior to the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Usmanov was on the road to success. He had become a millionaire after setting up a privately-owned for-profit company, which produced plastic bags. He became even richer after the collapse of the USSR.

He began getting involved in politics when he became the Adviser to the General Director of Moscow Aviation Industrial Enterprise. Towards the end of the 1990s Usmanov was the General Director of Gazprom Invest Holdings, the investment-holding subsidiary of Russia’s state-owned gas company Gazprom. He managed the firm for a decade before leaving in 2014.

His main income is in USM. Usmanov has a 49 per cent economic interest and 100 per cent voting rights in USM, a global conglomerate with its main investments in metals and mining industry, telecommunications, technology, and media.   

He is also the co-owner of, Metalloinvest, which he founded along with business partner Vasiliy Anisimov, in order to manage his acquisitions in the metal industry. Usmanov also has assets in Australia-based mining companies.  

He also is the co-owner of Russia’s second-largest mobile telephone operator, MegaFon, and previously held shares in Arsenal FC.  He and his business partner Farhad Moshiri bought the stake in the club owned by former Arsenal vice-chairman David Dein for £75 million.  

In January 2017, Usmanov’s holding company, USM, entered into a five-year, £11 million+ deal with Everton FC, which is majority owned by Moshiri, for the naming rights of the club’s training ground. 

In 2019 Megafon became the sleeve sponsor for the men’s training wear of and its official matchday presenting partner.

Usmanov has no biological children. He has a stepson with his wife Irina Viner. His step-son ia a real-estate investor, currently constructing 30 real estate projects.

Alongside business interest, Usmanov owns an extensive list of properties, including Beechwood House in London and Sutton Place in Surrey, valued at a combined $280 million. He also has luxury homes in Munich, Lausanne, Monaco and Sardinia. 

The EU, in sanctioning Usmanov, described the 68-year-old as a ‘pro-Kremlin oligarch with particularly close ties to [the] Russian president’. 

Usmanov meanwhile has says his sanctioning by the EU is ‘unfair’ and that the reasons to justify the sanctions are ‘false and defamatory’. 

He has previously welcomed links with Putin, telling Forbes in 2010: ‘I am proud that I know Putin, and the fact that everybody does not like him is not Putin’s problem. I don’t think the world loved Truman after Nagasaki.’ 

Meanwhile, Usmaov’s Dilbar, which is estimated to have a value of around £500million, remains at shipyards in the northern city of Hamburg where it has been for a refitting job since late October. 

Dilbar was custom-built for Usmanov by German shipbuilder Lürssen and took 52 months to finish.

She is one of the world’s largest yachts by volume and can hold over 100 passengers and crew in 58 cabins.

The yacht is part of Usmanov’s multibillion pound fortune, which spans stakes in iron ore and steel giant Metalloinvest and consumer electronics firm Xiaomi, as well as holdings in telecom, mining and media.

Usmanov, an oligarch with links to Vladimir Putin, was on Monday added to a list of sanctioned individuals by the European Union.

The move, first reported by Forbes, is part of an asset freeze on Usmanov after he was sanctioned in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.  

However Usmanov hit back at the EU in a statement on the website of the International Fencing Federation, of which he is president.

He wrote: ‘On 28 February 2022 I became the target of restrictive measures imposed by the European Union.

‘I believe that such a decision is unfair, and the reason is employed to justify the sanctions are a set of false and defamatory allegations damaging my honour, dignity, and business reputation.

‘I would use all legal means to protect my owner and reputation.’ 

Despite calls from MPs, including Labour’s Dame Margaret Hodge and Chris Bryant, Usmanov has not yet been given sanctions in the UK.

Usmanov has several interests in Britain, and until this week had a sponsorship deal with Everton FC, which has since been suspended.

He is a business partner of Everton’s majority shareholder Farhad Moshiri, the pair’s relationship dating back to before the Iranian billionaire took a controlling stake in the club in February 2016. Moshiri is yet to make any comment about the situation.

But Everton – who made clear their anti-war stance before Saturday’s 1-0 defeat to Manchester City – yesterday said they were aware of the scrutiny they are under and had put a stop to their links with the three companies that Usmanov has stakes in. 

USM had sponsored the club’s Finch Farm training base since signing a five-year deal in 2017 but the process is now underway to remove all branding from the facility.

USM also paid £30million in January 2020 with the option of securing naming rights for Everton’s new stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock.

Megafon have huge branding on the back of the Park End Stand but, again, the club will start the process of removing it; Everton’s women’s team will also have Megafon removed from the front of their jerseys.

The ambition is to have all branding around Goodison Park removed before the next Premier League home game against Wolves on March 14. Everton face Boreham Wood in the FA Cup fifth round on Thursday.

In a statement, the club said: ‘Everyone at Everton remains shocked and saddened by the appalling events unfolding in Ukraine. 

‘This tragic situation must end as soon as possible, and any further loss of life must be avoided.

‘The players, coaching staff and everyone working at Everton is providing full support to our player Vitalii Mykolenko and his family and will continue to do so.

‘The Club can confirm that it has suspended with immediate effect all commercial sponsorship arrangements with the Russian companies USM, Megafon and Yota.’ 

As recently as 2018,  68-year-old Usmanov had a 30 per cent stake in Arsenal FC but sold out to American owner Stan Kroenke.

He also owns Beechwood House in the Highgate area of north London and Sutton Place in Surrey – collectively worth over £200million. 

Until this week, Usmanov had a sponsorship deal with Everton FC, which has since been suspended

USM put their name to Everton’s Finch Farm training ground and are a commercial partner

As recently as 2018, 68-year-old Usmanov had a 30 per cent stake in Arsenal FC but sold out to American owner Stan Kroenke. He also owns Sutton Place in Surrey

Usmanov also owns Beechwood House in the Highgate area of north London. Collectively with Sutton Place, the properties are worth £200million

It comes as fellow oligarch Abramovich began a ‘fire sale’ of his sprawling London portfolio. He is trying to offload Chelsea FC for £3billion and £200million worth of properties.

One MP yesterday claimed the Russian billionaire was acting quickly to stop his assets being frozen.

Labour’s Chris Bryant, using parliamentary privilege to avoid legal action, alleged the tycoon planned to sell his home and an apartment because he is ‘terrified of being sanctioned’, adding that he feared the government will soon run out of time to act. 

Abramovich is worth 10.4bn ($12.5bn), according to Forbes, and owns a £150m Kensington mansion, a £22m penthouse, and more than £1.2bn of yachts, private jets, helicopters and supercars based in Britain and around the world

Abramovich posing with the Champions League trophy in Porto last year with his sons Aaron (left) and Arkadiy 

Ukraine war: The latest 

• Russian forces take the Black Sea port of Kherson in southern Ukraine, the first major city to fall 
• Invasion so far has been badly managed, a ‘disaster, through and through’, US defence experts say
• Ukraine’s second city Kharkiv continues to come under heavy Russian shelling 
• Column of Russian vehicles north of Kyiv ‘stalled’ due to fuel and food shortages, and Ukrainian resistance
• More than one million people have fled Ukraine since the Russian invasion
• Moscow admits 498 troops have died in Ukraine, widely thought to be an under-estimate but still a record total for post-Soviet Russia 
• The International Criminal Court’s chief prosecutor says an active probe into possible war crimes in Ukraine ‘will immediately proceed’
• A Bangladeshi sailor is killed in an attack on his vessel docked in the Black Sea port of Olvia
• Russia floats the possibility of a ceasefire with talks with Ukraine scheduled for Thursday 
• Russia tells citizens in Kyiv, Kharkiv and Mariupol  to leave, raising fears bombing will intensify
• UN General Assembly demands Russia ‘immediately’ withdraws. Moscow wins support from only four nations – Belarus, North Korea, Eritrea and Syria
• Swedish Armed Forces say four Russian fighter jets entered its airspace in the Baltic Sea
• US launches ‘KleptoCapture’ with the aim of seizing yachts, private jets and homes of Russian oligarchs
• Chelsea Russian owner Roman Abramovich confirms he is selling the Premier League club
• Ukraine invites mothers of captured Russian troops to come and collect their sons
• Jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny urges Russians to protest daily against the invasion
• US follows the EU in targeting Russian ally Belarus with sanctions for supporting invasion 

Abramovich is worth 10.4bn ($12.5bn), according to Forbes, and owns a £150m Kensington mansion, a £22m penthouse, and more than £1.2bn of yachts, private jets, helicopters and supercars based in Britain and around the world.

Chelsea FC is his most valuable British asset, after the oligarch transformed its fortunes from outside challengers to Premier League giants with the help of Jose Mourinho and huge signings like Didier Drogba, so its sale will be a personal blow to the billionaire industrialist.

Yesterday, Labour Leader Sir Keir Starmer pressed the Prime Minister on why Abramovich has not been sanctioned, claiming he had ‘links to the Russian state’ and ‘public association with corrupt activity and practices’.

Mr Johnson said it is not ‘appropriate’ for him to comment on individual cases. Foreign Secretary Liz Truss has previously said she has a ‘hit list’ of oligarchs they are targeting, but has not named all of them. 

Kremlin-linked billionaires are also facing fresh threats of asset seizures from the US, with Joe Biden using his State of the Union address to say America was coming to ‘seize your yachts, your luxury apartments, your private jets’.

Abramovich has never held UK citizenship, and made his fortune selling assets purchased from the state when the USSR broke up. He vehemently denies being close to the Kremlin or doing anything that would merit sanctions.

Immigration officials are reportedly under pressure to prevent him basing himself in the UK. Scrutiny from MPs, and his status as the Britain’s best known Russian oligarch, makes him all the more vulnerable.

Abramovich has seven children from two of his ex-wives. The eldest, Anna, 29, is a Columbia University philosophy graduate who lives in New York, while Arkadiy, 27, is an industrial tycoon with substantial oil and gas investments. 

Sofia, 26, lives in London and the ‘wild child’ ‘of the family, recently posted a message on Instagram attacking Vladimir Putin for his invasion of Ukraine. Less is known about Arina, 20, and Ilya, 18, or Aaron, 11 and Leah Lou, 7, who were both born in New York to his third wife, Dasha. 

Abramovich’s current location is unknown, but he has recently been in Belarus ‘trying to help’ negotiate an end to Russia’s war against Ukraine following its illegal invasion of the country.  

The conflict entered its eight day today, with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky warning Russia was seeking to erase Ukraine and its people after officials said 2,000 civilians had been killed.    

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