EAn unknown buyer has acquired Russian oligarch Dimitri Pumpiansky’s luxury yacht Axioma at a foreclosure sale in Gibraltar for $37.5 million. This was announced by a court in the British overseas territory on the southern tip of Spain on Tuesday evening. The 73-meter-long “Axioma” is the first yacht owned by an oligarch to change hands due to sanctions resulting from the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine, according to the newspaper “Gibraltar Chronicle”.
The Maltese-flagged yacht was seized at the request of US bank JP Morgan, which is reclaiming a $20.5 million loan from a company attributed to Pumpiansky, the newspaper reported. The bank filed the lawsuit for repayment of the loan after Pumpiansky was placed on the EU and UK sanctions list because of the war. As a result, his assets were frozen.
The buyer, whose name has been kept secret, submitted the highest of 63 bids received by August 23, the end of the foreclosure sale organized by a British auction house, the newspaper further reported. The court also accepted an additional payment of 505,000 euros for the ship’s accessories and wine and alcohol supplies on board. Creditors now have 60 days to assert their claims with the court in Gibraltar, the newspaper wrote.