Finns Arrest Oligarch's Yacht from Rosneft 0 5

A Finnish court has confirmed for the first time that the 35-meter yacht Divina Barbara, arrested in the country and valued at up to 12 million euros, belongs to Russian oligarch and former head of Rosneft, Eduard Khudainatov. During the hearing, an unnamed Swiss-Belgian businessman attempted to lift the arrest on the luxury yacht, reported the Finnish broadcasting company Yle. The Pirkanmaa District Court rejected the businessman’s complaint and deemed the new story of ownership through a chain of offshore companies to be untrustworthy.

The yacht was seized in 2022, with the authorities considering Khudainatov, an associate of Rosneft head Igor Sechin, to be its actual owner. The businessman who approached the court claimed that Khudainatov "does not even have indirect control" over the yacht, asserting that he himself is the owner through offshore structures.

The court found that the evidence presented creates the impression of an "excessively complex chain of companies" designed to conceal the true owner and referred to the applicant as a "nominal figure." The court accepted the arguments of the prosecution, which reported on Khudainatov's use of the vessel.

This is already the fifth yacht associated with Khudainatov. In September 2025, the confiscated yacht Amadea, which the U.S. seized as property linked to billionaire Suleiman Kerimov, was sold at auction. Khudainatov claimed to be the owner of Amadea, valued at $300 million, and attempted to halt its sale. The judge dismissed his arguments, stating that Khudainatov is a nominal owner. Prior to this, Khudainatov also claimed ownership of another yacht — Crescent, which was arrested in Spain in 2022. Spanish law enforcement believes that this vessel actually belongs to Igor Sechin. The 135-meter Crescent cost its owner $5 million a month to operate and was valued at $600 million.

In May 2022, U.S. authorities named Khudainatov a front owner of the 140-meter Scheherazade, which had previously been linked to Vladimir Putin. In March of the same year, Alexei Navalny's Anti-Corruption Foundation released an investigation into Scheherazade, valued at $700 million. It claimed that its crew consisted of Federal Protective Service employees and that the yacht was connected to the President of the Russian Federation.

But this is not the last yacht associated with Khudainatov. The 40-meter yacht La Perla also relates to the former head of Rosneft, reported Vyorstka, citing customs data. When the vessel was imported into Russia for 670 million rubles in June 2023, it was registered to the company Water Travel. The owner of this firm is 53-year-old yacht captain Anatoly Koveshnikov. He received a salary from the company Leader, which was previously owned by Khudainatov's Independent Oil and Gas Company.