Putin's alleged front man has a mooring at Port of Barcelona
Germany has confiscated the yacht Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov had in Hamburg
BarcelonaAlisher Usmanov, an oligarch with "particularly close ties to the Russian president, Vladimir Putin", appears in third place on the blacklist drawn up by the European Union. He is considered, in fact, "President Putin's front man" and is one of the men who "solved his business problems". The EU also considers that Usmanov "will actively provide material or financial support to Russian politicians responsible for the annexation of Crimea". On Thursday, this powerful Russian oligarch saw German authorities obeying EU directives and confiscating the Dilbar, his luxury yacht which was moored in the Port of Hamburg. Two other yachts, owned by other oligarchs, have also been immobilised in the operation. The Dilbar, one of the largest in the world and valued at $600m, had been moored at the Port of Barcelona, where Usmanov, through different companies, owns a mooring.
The president of the Port of Barcelona, Damià Calvet, explained this morning that they have already informed Puertos del Estado that this metal industry businessman has a mooring in Barcelona: "We are waiting to hear how we should act", he said. Port sources have explained, however, that should it be decided to act against this property, they ignore how it would have to be done, since there is no law that provides for this possibility.
The list of Russian oligarchs sanctioned by the EU was published at the end of December, but on Tuesday last week it was extended. It is since this expansion that Usmanov's name is included
My Solaris' remains moored
On the other hand, My Solaris, the Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich's famous yacht, continues docked in Barcelona. As the ship does not have a Russian flag (it is flying the flag of the Cayman Islands) and the Chelsea FC owner is not on the list, nothing can be done. Under pressure, Abramovich announced yesterday that he is putting the English team up for sale, as he believes that "it is in the club's best interest".
In addition to these cases, on Monday two more yachts owned by other Russian oligarchs were docked in Barcelona. However, according to a yacht tracking application, they have already left. They are the Valerie, owned by Sergei Chemezov, former KGB agent and CEO of the state industrial products corporation Rostec – handpicked by Putin, with whom he shared a posting in the eighties – and the Aurora, owned by Andrei Molchanov, with a fortune of $1.2bn, who presides over LSR Group, a large construction company.
