Putin’s £500m superyacht ‘was a Christmas GIFT from fawning oligarchs in 2014’
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Vladimir Putin’s £500million superyacht was given as a Christmas gift by a group of fawning oligarchs in 2014, it has been claimed.
The luxurious 460ft-long Scheherazade is believed to have been used by the Kremlin leader’s ‘lover’ Alina Kabaeva, 39, according to opposition news outlet Dossier Centre.
The astronomical sum for the yacht – now seized in Italy due to sanctions – was collected by a group of Russian oligarchs headed by Gennady Timchenko, 69, a very close Putin crony, according to new revelations.
Vladimir Putin’s £500million superyacht was given as a Christmas gift by a group of fawning oligarchs in 2014, it has been claimed
The luxurious 460ft-long Scheherazade (interior pictured) is believed to have been used by the Kremlin leader’s ‘lover’ Alina Kabaeva
The astronomical sum for the yacht – now seized in Italy due to sanctions – was allegedly collected by a group of Russian oligarchs
Putin awards his rumoured lover Alina Kabaeva with ‘For Merit to the Fatherland’ order in 2005 in the Kremlin
The sum was allegedly collected by a group of Russian oligarchs headed by Gennady Timchenko (left), 69, a very close Putin crony
The existence of the super yacht was revealed in March, with its captain named as Briton Guy Bennett-Pierce, but the crew mostly staffed by Russian secret service officers.
Now, new revelations indicate the floating palace is nominally owned by Eduard Khudainatov, former president of Rosneft, and an old KGB ally of Igor Sechin.
But Khudainatov ‘is a front man for Putin and his entourage’, said a report from Dossier Centre.
‘Just over 583 million euros was transferred from five offshore companies for the construction of the Scheherazade.
Putin awards Alina Kabaeva with ‘For Merit to the Fatherland’ order in 2005 in Kremlin,
The existence of the super yacht was revealed in March, with its captain named as Briton Guy Bennett-Pierce
The superyacht has sailed close to Black Sea residences linked to Putin (pictured yesterday), said the report
‘The money was wired by Alera Assets, Diams Overseas, High Definition, Imperial Yachts, and Onda Mare.’
The contract was reportedly signed by Diams Overseas, a company registered in the British Virgin Islands.
The date was 30 December 2014, making it a New Year gift to the Russian leader from a group of his wealthiest oligarchs.
Russians traditionally give seasonal gifts at New Year rather than Christmas.
Bennett-Pierce has been quoted saying he has never seen Putin on board.
Yet a Dossier source says Kabaeva – Putin’s alleged mistress and mother of several Putin children – had been on board.
The £500m Scheherazade (above), is one of the most expensive superyachts in the world
One of the offshore companies – High Definition – can be linked to Ziyavudin Magomedov (pictured left)
New revelations indicate the floating palace is nominally owned by Eduard Khudainatov, former president of Rosneft (pictured with Putin in 2010)
Officers boarded The Scheherazade to serve paperwork to the yacht’s British captain Guy Bennett Pearce in May
Italy’s financial police patrol boat is seen in front of the multi-million-dollar mega yacht Scheherazade in May, docked at the Tuscan port of Marina di Carrara
The superyacht has sailed close to Black Sea residences linked to Putin, said the report.
One is his official retreat Bocharov Ruchei, in Sochi, and the other, an unofficial palace near Gelendzhik rumoured to have cost £1billion.
The identities of the other oligarchs behind the seasonal gift was not fully clarified.
But one of the offshore companies – High Definition – can be linked to Ziyavudin Magomedov, an oligarch who in 2018 was arrested and charged with ‘racketeering and embezzlement of state funds’.
This company paid two amounts of £25million towards the yacht.
However Magomedov and his ex-senator brother Magomed Magomedov remain behind bars awaiting trial.
Timchenko has spoken in court in support of the detained ‘yacht donor’.
In May, Italian police finally served paperwork to the yacht’s captain, telling him it would be unable to set sail from the dry dock where it is undergoing a multi-million-pound refit.
Authorities in the Italian port of Marina di Carrara near Pisa had been trawling through paperwork in a bid to identify the vessel’s owner since March.
Navalny said the crew had been spirited away in the dead of night and replaced by a skeleton crew of Britons who have been told they must remain onboard for the time being.
The yacht boasts six decks, gold plated toilet roll holders, marble bathroom fittings and two helicopter pads.
The date was 30 December 2014, making it a New Year gift to the Russian leader from a group of his wealthiest oligarchs
The six-deck yacht ‘Scheherezade’ has space the equivalent of two apartment blocks, along with a spa, swimming pool and a beauty salon
‘Scheherazade’, one of the largest superyachts in the world, anchors in Bodrum district of Turkey in August 2020
The yacht has been the subject of an investigation by the Italian financial police since the end of March and has been in dock at Marina di Carrara near Pisa since September undergoing a refit
Workers taking part in the vessel re-fit have described it as a miniature floating city – complete with ‘countless swimming pools, a spa, a sauna, a theatre, ballrooms, a gym.’
The ship reportedly features personal touches for the Russian strongman including a judo gym with framed pictures of Putin’s black belts.
The boat even houses its own hospital, workers said, amid rumours that Putin’s health is failing.
The ship’s name, Scheherazade, is the female protagonist from the Middle Eastern collection of tales known as the One Thousand and One Nights. It is also the title of a symphonic suite by Russian composer Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov that is based on the tales.
The yacht has room for 18 guests in nine luxury cabins in addition to a crew of 40, residing in 20 cabins.
A statement from the Italian Financial Police said in May: ‘After verification by the fiscal authorities it has come to light that there is a significant economic connection between the owner of The Scheherazade and senior elements of the Russian government.
‘On the basis of these elements it has been recommended that the yacht be placed on the current European Union sanctions list and the Minister of Finance in Rome has agreed.’
Putin’s ‘other yacht’ – a smaller, older vessel named GRACEFUL
Vladimir Putin claims that he is only moderately-wealthy, but is suspected of secretly harboring a $100 billion fortune.
A smaller, older vessel, the Graceful, has long been suspected of belonging to Putin.
Alone among the world’s superyachts, the Graceful’s hull was laid at a Russian naval shipyard, before being finished in Germany, an industry source told DailyMail.com.
The Graceful left port in Germany about two weeks before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and is currently docked at Russia’s Baltic Sea enclave of Kaliningrad, safely out of the reach of Western sanctions.
The Scheherazade, however, is stuck in drydock in Italy undergoing repairs, and a person familiar with the matter said that it would be impossible for it to sail before the end of March.
A smaller, older vessel, the Graceful (seen leaving Hamburg last month), has long been suspected of belonging to Putin
The Graceful left port in Germany on February 7 (above), about two weeks before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and is currently docked at Russia’s Baltic Sea enclave of Kaliningrad, safely out of the reach of Western sanctions