ST. JOHN’S, Antigua, CMC – The Antigua and Barbuda government has sought to re-assure creditors that they will be reimbursed after the island auctions the multi-million dollar super yacht, Alfa Nero, that has been moored in Falmouth Harbour for more than one year on the southern coast of the island.
A statement issued following the weekly Cabinet meeting noted that Parliament had passed an amendment to the Port Authority Act, providing “the clear direction which the administrator requires to ensure that the vessel, after ten days of advertising, will by law become the property of the state.
“It will then cease being the property of a sanctioned person, nor will the vessel be sanctioned property. Under those conditions, a sale of the Alfa Nero will cause the resources realized to become the state’s property,” the statement said.
It said the law directs that the money realized be placed in the Consolidated Fund. “Antigua and Barbuda has already given assurances to the several creditors of the Alfa Nero that it will reimburse them from the sale proceeds. The new purchaser, not yet known, would justifiably desire to own the vessel free of all liabilities,” the statement said.
The government also wanted to “ensure that its ownership under the law will be free of any liabilities. In a few days, the ten-day period would have run, and the bidding process will be complete”.
Earlier this month, the government said it had sought the advice of a Senior Counsel regarding the multi-million dollar super yacht and that “the interest in the sale has already attracted several global media houses.
The government said that no owner had stepped forward since the vessel has been sanctioned by the United States and the United Kingdom and that discussions with US government officials have taken place.
The yacht, which some international media said is valued at US$81 million, is owned by the sanctioned Russian oligarch Andrey Guryev. He has been approved by western countries following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last year.
The US government has said that Guryev, 62, who made a multi-billion dollar fortune from the Russian fertilizer company, PhosAgro, is the owner of Alfa Nero according to the US government, which imposed sanctions on him last year. The US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) said it had “identified Alpha Nero, a Cayman Islands flagged yacht that he reportedly bought for US$120m in 2014,
The yacht features a 12-meter infinity pool, a Jacuzzi, a spa, a beauty room, and a helipad.
Guryev, subjected to United Kingdom government sanctions in April 2022, denied being the owner.
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