The recently announced auction of the seized superyacht Royal Romance is still on, but with a different auction house. Boathouse Auctions is taking over the process due to issues with the initially selected company.
Issues with the originally winning auction house began in April. That month, Ukraine’s Asset Recovery and Management Agency (ARMA) ARMA announced that Netherlands-based Troostwijk Auctions had secured the right to auction the yacht. Olena Duma, ARMA’s chair, declared that the Dutch company “will go down in history as an ally in the victory over evil.” The eventual buyer, meanwhile, “will deal a political blow to Putin’s regime and go down in the history of the world.” As part of the terms, Troostwijk Auctions had five days to provide details as to how it would handle the process. The deadline passed, however, without the required information. According to a statement yesterday by ARMA, Troostwijk Auctions sent a letter dated April 30 refusing to continue negotiations over the preparation and signing of the agreement. “These reasons are confidential,” ARMA adds.
In the same statement, ARMA indicated that Boathouse Auctions, which placed second to Troostwijk Auctions in applying for the rights, had signed an agreement. “We are currently discussing in detail all legal issues and legal safeguards for the auction,” ARMA states. Boathouse Auctions, an American auction house, focuses strictly on boat and yacht sales. It further has relationships with the leading brokerage companies around the world. Recently, it led the auction of the classic yacht Ariadne. Prior to that an unfinished Trinity 168 went up for auction successfully through its efforts.
Notably, ARMA also indicated yesterday that it would work with government authorities to extend the yacht’s arrest if necessary. But, earlier today Royal Romance officially received the Ukranian flag (above). ARMA and Ukraine’s maritime officials jointly worked to re-flag her. Yevhenii Ihnatenko, head of the State Service for Maritime, Inland Waterway Transport and Shipping of Ukraine, declared it a historic moment for his country. “The first seized asset in the history of Ukraine, located abroad, received state registration in Ukraine,” he says. The proceeds will go toward the state budget of Ukraine., he concludes.
Royal Romance is a 303-footer (92-meter) from 2015 from Feadship. She has been under ARMA’s control in Croatia since April 2022. Croatian officials arrested her in March 2022 because her ultimate beneficial owner was Viktor Medvedchuk. A pro-Kremlin, former Ukrainian politician, Medvedchuk has been under international sanctions since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Ukraine itself santioned him in early 2021 for suspicion of financing terrorism. He’s further been under U.S. sanctions since 2014 for undermining Ukrainian sovereignty. The superyacht was handed over to Ukraine in January of this year.
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