A €75-million superyacht seized from sanctioned Russian steel billionaire Dmitry Pumpyansky attracted 63 bids at a closed auction in Gibraltar, the territory’s Office of the Admiralty Marshal said Tuesday.
The future owner of the 72-meter Axioma will be able to enjoy its glass elevator spanning four decks, a 3D cinema, an open-air gym, a jacuzzi and an infinity pool, among many other amenities. A guest review in the SuperYacht Times describes the ship as a “luxury beach house” featuring “a beautiful double-deck main salon.”
This is the first public sale of a seized asset since Russia invaded Ukraine six months ago. However, the proceeds are unlikely to go to Kyiv, but rather to investment bank JPMorgan. Court documents reported on by Reuters show the bank lent €20.5 million to Pyrene Investments Ltd, a British Virgin Islands-listed firm owned by a holding company that is itself owned by Pumpyansky. Sanctions against the oligarch forced Pyrene to default on the loan.
“Any surplus after JPMorgan’s mortgage has been paid off and the cost of arrest will go into an account at the Supreme Court of Gibraltar, and frozen until the sanctions are sorted,” Nigel Hollyer, who is supervising the auction for Gibraltar’s Admiralty Marshal, told SuperYacht Times.
The Admiralty Marshal in Gibraltar has yet to pick the yacht’s new owner, whose name won’t be disclosed.
Pumpyansky was the owner of OAO TMK, a steel pipe manufacturer for the oil and gas industry. He resigned last March, as he was added to the EU’s list of sanctioned Russian oligarchs.
