Sanctions, brokers Imperial Yachts and superyachts

US Sanctions and Imperial Yachts Brokers

On Thursday, the US Treasury announced a new round of Russian sanctions aimed at further punishing the country's elite after the invasion of Ukraine. 

The latest sanctions affected the brokerage Imperial Yachts, headed by Russian CEO Evgeny Kochman. The company provided brokerage services for at least one yacht associated with a sanctioned Russian oligarch. 

In the days leading up to the sanctions, The New York Times' investigation focused on Imperial Yachts, which describes itself as a maritime company that does "everything" from financing, designing and building yachts to management, to service and marketing.

According to the NYT, the company has been linked to superyachts owned by Vladimir Putin, Igor Sechin and Gennady Timchenko. These three are also under US sanctions. 

Why is there no news about cheaper yachts?

Many may have noticed that in the sector of yachts worth from 100 thousand to 1 million euros (dollars), there is almost complete calm. Yes, some shipyards and companies impose sanctions, their scandals flare up, but there is no noticeable and high-profile news.

And the answer is very simple and unpretentious. Yachts from 100 thousand to 1 million are yachts, very conditionally speaking, for the middle class. That is why there is no news. One of the main problems of modern Russia is the almost complete absence of the so-called. the middle class of the population. That is, the very people who could buy a catamaran in the conditional Fountaine-Pajot.

But in Russia there are many people of extremely high and extremely low income. For some, the absence of a superyacht, which can cost tens of millions of dollars, will not be a problem. After all, they did not leave the Urals (except perhaps as part of a battalion for a “special military operation”). For others, the loss of the yacht will be a very unpleasant surprise. Get used to living in luxury. 

This war and the sanctions that followed it perfectly showed the degree of stratification of society in the Russian Federation. While the middle class is virtually absent, and people below the poverty line cannot afford normal food, Russian billionaires are buying yachts for hundreds of millions of dollars.

That is why there are no special movements in the sector of budget yachts and there is no revival and noticeable news. Because in Russia there is literally no one to buy them.

Response from Imperial Yachts and customer cases

A spokesman for Imperial Yachts said the company has been "the target of numerous unsubstantiated and inaccurate allegations following events that have nothing to do with this family business and its services." That is, we again heard fairy tales about “unreasonable” sanctions.

“Imperial Yachts conducts all of its business in full compliance with the laws and regulations in all jurisdictions in which we operate. We are not involved in the financial affairs of our clients,” the company said in a statement.

“The Russian elite, including President Putin, rely on complex networks of companies to hide, move and maintain their wealth and luxuries,” Brian Nelson, Undersecretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, said in a press release Thursday. 

"Today's actions demonstrate that the Treasury can and will pursue those responsible for protecting and maintaining these ill-gotten interests," he continued.

10.06.2022