Billionaire Eugene Shvidler is a man with sanctions, a sanctioned friend Roman Abramovich and a beautiful boat he cannot use. Despite not being seized, the tycoon cannot access his $175 million Le Grand Bleu yacht, moored in Port Ponce, Puerto Rico. Shvidler was sanctioned last March by the UK for his connections with the former Chelsea F.C. owner Abramovich. Since then, the right-hand man of the Russian oligarch has lost two private jets worth $60 million to the UK government, which seized the assets indefinitely. This is also why he cannot cruise around on the superyacht and maintains it with only a skeleton crew aboard.
The Abramovich ally appealed to a UK high court to overturn UK sanctions. The high court rejected the effort by Shvidler on Friday. The oil tycoon’s lawyer Michael O’Kane, a senior partner at Peters & Peters, a London law firm, said, “Mr Shvidler is a British national. He has never been a citizen of Russia, has not visited Russia for more than 15 years, and has been critical of the Russian government’s actions in Ukraine. He was sanctioned by the UK for being a friend of Roman Abramovich and a director of a FTSE 100 company. As a UK citizen, UK sanctions have frozen his entire worldwide assets for an indeterminable period. The impact of this on him and his family is extreme and far-reaching. He remains at a loss to know what else he can do to be de-listed, given the absence of UK government engagement, policy or guidance. If this judgment stands, it will make it virtually impossible for any person sanctioned by the foreign secretary to bring a successful court challenge.”
The inability to use the Le Grand Bleu motoryacht may be the least of his problems, but the heart wants what it wants. The businessman would be spending an estimated $8- $10 million annually to maintain the pleasure craft that he just cannot use.
The lavish Le Grand Bleu –
370-foot Le Grand Bleu allegedly first belonged to Roman Abramovich, the former Chelsea owner lost the superyacht to his buddy Eugene Shvidler in a game of poker. Built by German shipbuilder Bremer Vulkan in 2000, the slender ship was designed by Italian architect Stefano Pastrovich. Boat International shared that Abramovich passed Le Grand Bleu to his business associate Eugene Shvidler in June 2006. The spectacular ship sleeps 20 guests in 10 staterooms serviced by 35 crew members. Despite being nearly 25 years old, the superyacht was outfitted with impressive features like a wastewater treatment system that reuses wastewater instead of dumping it into the ocean.
The massive garage of the yacht contains an arsenal of toys and tenders but also an aquarium within, offering unbridled views of marine life. The boat packs a lot of adrenaline in the form of a 22-meter Dubois sailing yacht, a couple of Buzzi sports boats, a Sunseeker motor yacht, and a landing craft that ferries a 4×4 Land Rover. Powered by two Deutz-MWM diesel engines, the ship cruises at a top speed of 17.0 kn.
This beautiful yacht once enraged New Yorkers –
Most billionaires know a thing or two about making money. Russian businessman Shvidler also knows tricks to save truckloads of it. His superyacht, a mammoth spanning 370 feet, was parked directly in front of the Statue of Liberty. As expected, the massive superyacht blocked views of America’s most famous symbol of freedom, becoming an eyesore for excited tourists. Le Grand Bleu was shamelessly anchored next to the statue for two months in April 2017. ‘It’s the people’s statue versus a person’s private boat,’ Roland Lewis, president of the non-profit Waterfront Alliance, said.
