Lately, sanctions and superyachts have been much in the news. Sanctions, a word that’s been thrown around ever since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is still an opaque idea for the layman. Sanctions entail travel bans, export restrictions, trade embargos, and asset seizures. This leaves the affluent billionaires with very little to enjoy their luxury-laden lives. Speaking of this sumptuous lifestyle, other than superyachts, this grandiosity is witnessed in snow-capped mountains an hour’s drive south of Munich. The dwellings around Tegernsee have been home to the richest of the rich for centuries. Alisher Usmanov is among the wealthy occupants of this pristine locale nestled in obscurity in his magnificent lakeside villas. One of Russia’s leading billionaires, worth $16 billion, Alisher Usmanov owes most of his wealth to metal and mining operations and investments. The 68-year-old business magnate is also a co‑owner of Russia’s second-largest mobile telephone operator, MegaFon.
Owing to his nearly monarchical status, the business tycoon enjoys the best things money can buy, from a $600 million superyacht to maintaining a superrich lifestyle in Tegernsee. However, sanctions have taken away the joy of enjoying these assets and affected the locals in the quaint village who depend on these masked moneybags for their livelihood.
As per New York Times, Thomas Tomaschek, a Greek politician who sits on the council for Rottach-Egern, a village on the Tegernsee, is doing his bit to stir unrest in the otherwise hush, almost inconspicuous place. He has targeted Alisher Usmanov, and back in late March, Mr. Tomaschek arranged a protest outside the Usmanov villas with a strength of 300 people; a feat in the otherwise still and sleepy Bavarian district.
That, however, is not the sentiment shared by all. Usmanov and other wealthy tycoons are a powerful source of local income. As per Business Insider, Kitzerow, who runs a ceramics business in the German resort town, shared, “He has always been reserved, and he has nothing to do with the war in any way, as far as I can tell,” he told the outlet. “But they think just because he knows Putin or because he’s Russian, they can do this. You shouldn’t pass judgment.” Judgments apart, it lies true that sanctions have precluded the Russian oligarch from paying $1 million in wages to local workers who have been at work, refurbishing his massive vacation homes.
The skilled labor is joined by the crew of the oligarch’s 512-foot superyacht, Dilbar, which was seized by German authorities in April. Unable to manage these expenses owing to sanctions, the staff of his beloved luxury vessel was fired; Forbes first reported in March.
Another superrich Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich shared the predicament and was found to be pleading with his wealthy friends for $1 million loans to pay wages to megayachts Solaris and Eclipse staff. The $600 million Dilbar yacht was taken by the German authorities of the Federal Criminal Police Office in the port of Hamburg. The fourth-longest ship globally required a large crew of 100 for its upkeep. No wonder the tycoon had any choice but to lay them off. The sanctioned oligarch pleaded with the European courts to suspend the harsh sanctions earlier this month.
