yacht putin preis

Vladimir Putin’s Superyacht Graceful Has A New Name: “Killer Whale”

• Share to Facebook
• Share to Twitter
• Share to Linkedin

Vladimir Putin's yacht Kosatka, formerly named Graceful, off the coast of Estonia on September 25.

The Russian president’s superyacht was spotted off the coast of Estonia, escorted by a Russian Coast Guard vessel.

Vladimir Putin’s second-largest superyacht is on the move. More than seven months after hastily departing Germany for the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad, the Russian president’s $119 million, 267-foot Graceful was spotted off the coast of Estonia—with a new name.

Photos seen by Forbes that were taken on September 25 by Carl Groll, a contributing photographer for TheYachtPhoto.com, reveal that Graceful has a new name: Kosatka , Russian for “killer whale.” Forbes, which was tipped off by TheYachtPhoto.com’s managing director and longtime yacht watcher Peter Seyfferth, compared photos of Graceful available on yacht industry websites with the photo of Kosatka that appear to confirm the match.

The yacht was traveling northbound in the Baltic sea to the west of the Estonian island of Saaremaa; the pictures show it being escorted by an armed Russian Coast Guard vessel, possibly en route to St. Petersburg. It’s unclear when Graceful changed its name to Kosatka or when it departed Kaliningrad, a Russian territory sandwiched between Lithuania and Poland: the yacht’s transponder has been turned off since at least August 30, according to ship tracking service MarineTraffic, when it was still in Kaliningrad. A spokesperson for the Russian government did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Kosatka —then named Graceful —departed the German port of Hamburg on February 7, seventeen days before Russian troops invaded Ukraine. It left for Russia after a five-month refit at the shipyards of Blohm+Voss, the company that built the yacht in 2014. The U.S. Treasury Department sanctioned Graceful —along with three other yachts linked to Putin—on June 2.

Kosatka moored at the port of Sochi, Russia in July 2015, when it was still named Graceful and before its refit in 2022.

Registered in Russia, Kosatka features an indoor swimming pool that turns into a theater and a dance floor, a helipad and suites for up to 12 guests. The ship also boasts pool towel storage cabinets that double as vodka bars and an owner's suite with a wine cave that can store up to 400 bottles; the yacht was delivered to "her closely-collaborating owner" in 2014, according to Lürssen, which owns Blohm+Voss.

According to a BBC News investigation published in March, the yacht is currently owned by Moscow-based JSC Argument, which the U.S. Treasury sanctioned along with its sole shareholder, Andrei Gasilov, on June 2. The BBC investigation found that JSC Argument had in the past agreed to a loan from one of the management companies involved in the construction of "Putin's Palace,” an opulent, 190,000-square-foot estate near the resort town of Gelendzhik on the Black Sea coast. JSC Argument did not respond to phone calls for comment from the BBC.

According to yacht valuation experts VesselsValue and reporting from the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), Graceful was previously owned by British Virgin Islands-based Olneil Assets Corp. The U.S. Treasury sanctioned a company in the Cayman Islands with a similar name—O’Neill Assets Corporation—on June 2, for "having materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, or technological support for, or goods or services to or in support of, Vladimir Putin."

Besides Kosatka , Putin has been linked to at least five more yachts: the $507 million, 459-foot Scheherazade , which is technically owned by oil & gas billionaire Eduard Khudainatov but is believed to be held on behalf of Putin ; the $22 million, 187-foot Olympia ; the $18 million, 177-foot Chayka , which means “seagull” in Russian; the $17 million, 151-foot Shellest; and the 105-foot Nega. Olympia and Kosatka , then named Graceful , were sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury on June 2 as “blocked property in which President Vladimir Putin has an interest” while Shellest and Nega were targeted as “two additional yachts linked to Putin.” Altogether, Putin’s fleet of yachts is worth at least $680 million, according to VesselsValue.

Except for Scheherazade , which was frozen by Italian authorities in the port of Marina di Carrara on May 6 and recently re-registered to Malaysia, and Olympia , which is registered in the Cayman Islands, the other yachts are all registered in Russia. All of the other yachts, except for Scheherazade , also appear to be in Russia now: Olympia was last tracked in Lake Ladoga, near St. Petersburg, on July 31, 2021; Chayka was last tracked in the Black Sea port of Sochi on March 29, 2021; Shellest was last tracked off the coast of Gelendzhik on September 13; and Nega was last tracked in Lake Ladoga on August 14.

The links between the six yachts and the leader of the Kremlin are complex. According to the U.S. Justice Department, Eduard Khudainatov— a former CEO of Russia’s state-owned oil company Rosneft and a longtime associate of Igor Sechin, Rosneft’s current boss and Putin’s right-hand man —acted as a “clean, unsanctioned straw owner” for Scheherazade , owning it through Marshall Islands-based Bielor Assets Ltd. A spokesperson for Khudainatov did not respond to a request for comment regarding Scheherazade when Forbes reached out in June.

Olympia is owned by Cayman Islands-based Ironstone Marine Investments, which was sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury on June 2. According to the U.S. Treasury, Shellest and Nega are owned by the Russia-based Non-Profit Partnership Revival of Maritime Traditions and its subsidiary LLC Gelios; both entities were sanctioned on June 2. Putin’s ties to Chayka are clearer: the yacht is owned directly by the Russian government, according to VesselsValue.

An investigation by OCCRP published in June shed light on the murky relationship between Putin and his yachts. The firms that own Shellest and Nega are tied to "LLCInvest," a network of interconnected companies and nonprofits that holds a collective $4.5 billion in assets, including Putin's palatial complex on the Black Sea. The group is also linked to another yacht, the $9 million, 121-foot Aldoga , owned by a firm held by Svetlana Krivonogikh, rumored to be the mother of one of Putin's daughters.

The investigation also revealed how Putin appears to use the yachts: Shellest makes frequent trips between Gelendzhik—the site of “Putin’s Palace”—and Sochi, while Nega travels between several homes owned by LLCInvest companies, including a villa known as the “Fisherman’s Hut” on Lake Ladoga and Villa Sellgren, a mansion on the shores of the Gulf of Finland. OCCRP reached out to more than 100 LLC Invest email addresses and made phone calls to five representatives of LLC Invest companies for comment; none of the emails received replies to the questions and four of the people called did not respond, while a fifth claimed he did not know who owned the companies.

• Editorial Standards
• Forbes Accolades

• Skip to main content
• Keyboard shortcuts for audio player

Italy won't say who's paying for the care of a $700 million superyacht tied to Putin

Dustin Jones

The Scheherazade, a 460-foot superyacht, has been held in Italy since May 2022 in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. It is believed to have ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Laura Lezza/Getty Images hide caption

The Scheherazade, a 460-foot superyacht, has been held in Italy since May 2022 in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. It is believed to have ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The Scheherazade superyacht was impounded by the Italian government in May 2022 in response to Russian President Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine. Instead of falling into disrepair, Italy has allowed its owner to maintain and refit the vessel, but it won't disclose who is footing the bill.

The Financial Times reported on Sunday that the vessel has been held at port in Marina di Carrara, located almost 90 miles northwest of Florence, since it was impounded by authorities in the spring of 2022. For over a year, the Italian government has permitted the owner to continue paying for the ship's staff, its maintenance and refitting of the vessel. But Italy won't identify the owner.

Italy's Finance Ministry said in a May 2022 news release that the superyacht had "significant economic and business links" with "prominent elements of the Russian government" but didn't name the owner of the ship.

Ukraine invasion — explained

Ravaged by russian troops, bucha rises from the ashes.

According to the website SuperYachtFan , the 460-foot superyacht belongs to Russian billionaire Eduard Khudainatov. However, Bloomberg News reported in 2022 that he is a "straw owner" of the superyacht — as well as another ship — and that the Scheherazade actually belongs to Putin.

The Financial Times reported that the Scheherazade has 22 cabins, two helicopter decks and a spa and that it's being refitted by the Italian Sea Group. NPR reached out to the Italian Sea Group for comment but did not hear back before publication.

The United States created Task Force KleptoCapture in the wake of Putin's war against Ukraine, aiming to hold Russian oligarchs accountable for evading sanctions. In its one year of operation, the task force has brought charges to at least 35 individuals and entities, NPR previously reported.

Part of those efforts included seizing luxury items belonging to billionaires with ties to the Kremlin. This includes items like a 348-foot yacht seized in Fiji in May 2022, which is valued at about $300 million and is now sitting in San Diego.

A $700 million superyacht linked to Putin was seized in Italy last year. It's being treated to a refurb while it waits, and authorities won't say who's paying for it.

• Scheherazade, a $700 million superyacht linked to Russian President Putin, is being refitted in Italy.
• Italy seized the yacht in 2022 following sweeping sanctions against Russia over the Ukraine war.
• The unnamed owner of the yacht is paying for the vessel's staff, maintenance, and refit.

A $700 million superyacht linked to Russian President Vladimir Putin is sitting in an Italian port and being refitted on the unnamed owner's dime, the Financial Times reports .

Italy seized the Scheherazade superyacht in  May last year but allowed its unnamed sanctioned owner to continue paying for the vessel's staff, maintenance, and a refit while it sits in the Tuscan port of Marina di Carrara, the FT reported.

The 459-foot, four-year-old vessel features six floors, two helipads, a swimming pool, a beauty salon, and gold-plated bathrooms, reported by the FT and an Insider report .

It's now being refurbished by the Milan-listed Italian Sea Group, which confirmed the refit to the FT. The company declined to provide further details — including ownership — to the media outlet.

People with knowledge of the matter told the FT that the owner of the Scheherazade yacht is Eduard Khudainatov, the sanctioned former CEO of the Russian state oil company Rosneft.

However, the oligarch is merely the "straw owner" of the vessel,  Bloomberg  reported in May last year.

US authorities believe the superyacht could  belong to Putin ,  The New York Times  reported in March last year. 

Two activists working with the imprisoned Putin opponent Alexey Navalny claimed last March that some of the ship's crew members were from a Russian state agency responsible for protecting Putin. The FT reported that the Kremlin denied these allegations.

The Scheherazade is one of the  many luxury assets that have been seized by the West following sweeping sanctions against Russia over the full-scale invasion of Ukraine that started in February 2022. Other yachts linked to Russian oligarchs that have been seized include the $81 million Alfa Nero  and the  $48 million Phi .

The Kremlin and Italian Sea Group did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Insider sent outside regular business hours.

• Main content

A Peek Inside Vladimir Putin's $125 Million Dollar Yacht Collection

Your changes have been saved

Email is sent

Email has already been sent

You’ve reached your account maximum for followed topics.

Quick Links

The graceful, the olympia, the seagull.

Vladimir Putin is the first person that comes to mind when thinking of Russia . He had served as the President of Russia for eight years from 1999 to 2008 before he was reelected in 2012 and has been the Commander-in-Chief ever since. The President is known to downplay his net worth, claiming that he only earns $100,000 as an annual income salary for his role as the President . His statements of modest salary are questioned when reports arise that Putin has a net worth of a whopping $40 billion. Given his expensive tastes and properties, it is not a surprise that the Russian President is one of the wealthiest politicians in the world.

Putin has several castle-like estates in Russia and travels in style in his limousines. His other interests include owning a fleet of superyachts that are breathtaking inside and out. Let’s take a look at Vladimir Putin’s $125 million yacht collection.

The first yacht on the list is The Graceful, which is as elegant as the name suggests. Splashed in the affluent shade of white, it is 72 meters wide and has 2,685 tons of volume. As mentioned by Super Yacht Fan , The Graceful was built by Blohm and Voss in 2014 and designed by H2 Yacht Design. The superyacht features six cabins for the guests, which 12 people can occupy, and seven cabin crews that can hold 14 members.

RELATED:  Inside Russian Billionaire's $100 Million Yacht That Can Break Through Ice

The largest room is the Master Suite , followed by two VIP staterooms and three guest cabins. The yacht features a 50 by 10-foot pool, which can be converted into a dance floor with a flick of a button. The uncovered views of the yacht offer 360-degree views of the blue lagoons. The yacht costs an astonishing $100 million, and if that is not enough, it requires $5 to $10 million of annual costs for maintenance.

The most photographed and Putin’s favorite yacht, The Olympia, stands true to its name as it stretches 57 meters. Designed and built-in 2002, the yacht was put together at the Feadship shipyard. The speed of The Olympia is 16 knots with a range of 4,700 miles, as stated by It Boat . Putin is spotted cruising on the yacht with business leaders from around the world.

The Olympia costs $50 million and can accommodate up to 10 guests along with 16 crew members. The superyacht features a Presidential Cabin where Putin resides , which is located on a separate level. The size of his suite is one-third of the length of the yacht. It also features a jacuzzi and bar. The interior details of the yacht are kept a State secret which only adds to the mystery of The Olympia.

Built-in, a Turkish shipyard in 2009 by Proteksan Turquoise, The Seagull or Chayka in Russian is a 54 meters long superyacht under the purchase of the Russian Government. The yacht is built for long journeys of over 4,000 miles. The yacht can cruise to a speed of 14 knots with a range of 4,000 horses. The cost of The Seagull is expected to be over $34.85 million.

The luxurious explorer features spacious indoor and outdoor areas for guests to relax. It can accommodate 12 guests and 11 crew members at the same time. The Seagull has a large dining room, jacuzzi, gym, beach club, barbecue area, and a swimming pool. The Master Suite reserved for Putin has an ultra-luxurious bed, office, full bathroom, and a dressing room. The Seagull is also stocked with jet skis, fishing and diving equipment, and three inflatable boats for a quick mid-day sports activity.

The least known about and the smallest yacht on the list is The Petrel. Very little information is known about the yacht since the Russian President hasn’t been spotted using it as often as The Olympia and The Graceful. The Petrel is 35 meters long and has a maximum speed of 14 knots and a cruising speed of 10 knots, as noted by The Richest . The elegantly decorated cabins with private balconies can house 16 guests comfortably and 12 crew members.

For Putin to relax, there's also a sundeck with a jacuzzi installed for comfort . The main floor features a lounge featuring comfortable areas for everyone to sit and talk. While the exact price of the superyacht is still in question, the model similar to The Petrel costs $16.8 million. Being the least expensive on the list, it still costs more than a standard yacht owned by celebrities worldwide.

Vladimir Putin has different ways to travel in style, from his Presidential bulletproof car called The Beast to his incredible yacht collection. While the Russian President has only been spotted conducting business negotiations on his superyachts, they are the best solution for him to soak the sun and take some time off from work.

READ NEXT:  The Billionaire Bunker: Inside Ivanka Trump's $24 Million Mansion

Sources: Super Yacht Fan , It Boat , The Richest

• Luxury Lifestyle
• The Rich & Powerful