By KYIV. May 26 (Interfax-Ukraine) – A court ruled to seize a fishing vessel owned by a sanctioned Russian oligarch, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) has said.
“Based on the materials of the Security Service, the court ruled to seize the Bukhta Sokolovska fishing trawler owned by the holding of sanctioned Russian oligarch Aleksandr Verkhovsky. The cost of the fishing vessel is estimated at almost UAH 1 billion,” it said on the Telegram channel on Friday.
It was discovered that the oligarch is a member of the inner circle of the Kremlin and is also one of the largest financial “donors” in the war against Ukraine.
“The Russian businessman’s fishing business allows him to regularly transfer billions of dollars to the Russian budget. The seized trawler is part of the oligarch’s merchant fleet,” the SBU said.
Before the full-scale invasion, the construction of the vessel was completed at the shipyard in Mykolaiv.
With the aim of circumventing the sanctions, the beneficiary owner of the vessel registered it for one of the controlled companies in Primorsky Krai of the Russian Federation.
However, the SBU officers exposed the deal and blocked the Russian trawler.
At the moment, the vessel has been transferred to the management of the Asset Recovery and Management Agency (ARMA).
Complex measures were carried out by SBU employees in Mykolaiv region under the procedural guidance of the regional prosecutor’s office.
