The Croatian authorities are investigating the disappearance of the sanctioned yacht

Irina VU from the port, which came under sanctions in Croatia, left the port in October and sailed to Turkey. The country's authorities associate her with Alisher Usmanov. The representative of the businessman told RBC,

The yacht Irina VU, confiscated last year in Croatia due to sanctions against Russian businessmen, left the port of Betina on the island of Murter in October and is now in Didim, Turkey. The Croatian publications Jutarnji List and Večernji List learned about this in mid-January.

The publications say that the authorities consider the yacht to belong to structures associated with Alisher Usmanov and his former wife, the president of the All-Russian Federation of Rhythmic Gymnastics, Irina Viner.

Usmanov's representative told RBC that the businessman "does not own the Irina VU yacht, which is mentioned in the Croatian press, and cannot in any way be connected with her disappearance from the port of Betina." He recalled that Usmanov divorced his wife in the summer of 2022. RBC turned to Irina Viner for comment.

The fact that the 35-meter Irina VU, registered in 2012 in the Croatian home port of Split, is now in Didim is confirmed by data from the Marinne Traffic service, the vessel's previous port of stay is Betina. The yacht left the anchorage there on October 6, and three days later anchored in Didim. What makes the disappearance of the yacht Irina VU “even more strange” from the port in Croatia, writes Jutarnji List, is that another yacht entered Betin around the same time, “almost identical” to the one that disappeared. True, the port authorities told the newspaper that this was a coincidence, and the second yacht arrived at the marina for repairs.

The EU imposed sanctions against Mordashov, Usmanov,Fridman and Peskov Politics

According to Jutarnji List sources, Irina VU was able to leave the marina unhindered, as the Croatian police and customs had no official information or notification that the yacht was sanctioned and was not allowed to sail. As the Dnevnik Nova TV channel reported, the yacht was in dry dock before sailing, and in order for it to sail from the marina, it had to be launched.

State Secretary of the Ministry of Maritime, Transport and Infrastructure Alen Gospočić told Jutarnji List that as soon as the yacht was sanctioned, it was sealed, the owners were informed that they could not dispose of their property, and the harbor master forbade any access to the vessel.

Read on RBC Pro Etsy CEO Josh Silverman: “In the first weeks I fired one in five” Learn to doubt: how uncertainty helps to make decisions ALROSA quotes update their lows. Is it time to buy her papers People without age: 7 habits,

Answering the question how then it is possible that someone freely entered the port and stole a 35-meter yacht, which is under sanctions, the Secretary of State for the Maritime Department indicated that Betina has an open-type marina, where "everyone can enter without problems."

“The Ministry informed the port that the yacht was blocked, the Harbor Master instructed the authorities that the yacht should not be approached in any case. But the ministry does not hire guards to protect other people's property around the clock,” Gospočić said. According to him, the system for alerting the police and customs about sanctioned property is centralized, and they should have known that Irina VU was under sanctions.

FT found outthat Uzbekistan asked the EU to lift sanctions against Usmanov Politics

The disappearance of the yacht will be investigated by the Croatian State Prosecutor's Office (DORH) and the country's Security and Intelligence Agency (SOA) on the one hand, as well as the Ministry of the Sea, Transport and Infrastructure and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the other hand. Those who helped the sanctioned yacht sail freely from Croatia face a prison term of up to five years, Dnevnik.hr clarifies.

Irina VU, worth about €5 million, has been assigned to the Croatian port of Split since 2012. According to Slobodna Dalmacija, the vessel is owned by Leraux Yachts (Cayman) Limited, registered in the Cayman Islands.