Superyacht linked to sanctioned Russian fetched $37.5 million at auction in Gibraltar

A court has revealed that a superyacht connected to a sanctioned Russian businessman sold for $37.5 million at auction in Gibraltar last month after being ordered to do so by creditor JP Morgan. This was the first such sale since Russia invaded Ukraine.

The authorities in Gibraltar seized the 72.5-meter Axioma in March after a U.S. bank claimed that its purported owner, a business run by Dmitry Pumpyansky, had broken the terms of a 20.5 million euro loan.

An unnamed buyer had been chosen, according to the Office of Admiralty Marshal, a division of Gibraltar's Supreme Court charged with organising the auction in August.

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The $37,500,055 in sales profits will be used to pay off the ship's debts to creditors, and anyone with additional claims must make them within the next 60 days, according to a statement. It further said that the court would decide what to do with any leftover money.

Pumpyansky, 58, served as the owner and chairman of OAO TMK, a supplier of steel pipes to the Russian energy giant Gazprom, until March.

According to Forbes magazine, he is worth an estimated $2 billion. Shortly after the invasion of Ukraine, Britain and the EU imposed sanctions on him.

JP Morgan said it lent 20.5 million euros to Pyrene Investments Ltd, a company listed in the British Virgin Islands and owned by Furdberg Holding Ltd, according to court documents examined by Reuters. Pumpyansky, owner of Furdberg, served as the loan's guarantee.

According to the documents, Pyrene Investments broke the terms of the loan after Pumpyansky transferred his interests in Furdberg to a third party on March 4 and was subsequently fined, preventing the loan's repayment. The papers said that the Axioma had served as loan collateral.

Pumpyansky is not known to have made any public remarks regarding who owned the yacht, and Reuters was unable to get in touch with him.

The yacht's sale, which included a swimming pool, spa, and 3D theatre, attracted a lot of attention because it was the first of many yachts associated with sanctioned Russian business leaders that were seized globally, primarily by governments and as a result of sanctions related to the Ukraine conflict.

(with inputs from agencies)