Italy allows owner of arrested yacht Scheherazade to refit vessel — Financial Times

Italy is allowing the owner of the arrested yacht Scheherazade to refit the vessel.

Financial Times reported this.

The Italian Sea Group confirmed that the refit took place after the Italian authorities froze the vessel's assets. The yacht's owner, who has not been named, paid for the work and maintenance.

Agenzia del Demanio, which manages the seized assets, said it had agreed with the Italian Ministry of Finance to allow the owner to pay for "maintenance work.”

Italy has never publicly identified the owner of the yacht, although, at the time of the arrest, it stated that the beneficial owner of the vessel had economic and business ties with representatives of the Russian government subject to EU sanctions.

The yacht has been linked to Vladimir Putin. In 2020 and 2021, the yacht was docked in Sochi, where the Russian president spent time.

The €700 million yacht was arrested in May 2022. Since then, the Scheherazade has been docked in the Tuscan port of Marina di Carrara.

Photo: Laura Lezza/Getty Images