Putin spent $32m renovating his superyacht in 2022, investigation claims

The Kremlin regime spent at least 3b roubles (US$32m) in 2022 refitting a yacht said to belong to Vladimir Putin, according to an investigation by the team of Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny.

The vessel in question is the 82-metre yacht Graceful (also known by codename Kosatka or Killer Whale), estimated to be worth US$100 million. Despite not being the official owner of any superyacht, Russian president Putin is rumoured to be the ultimate owner of numerous luxury vessels, including Graceful; 140m Scheherazade — impounded in the port of Marina di Carrara by Italy in 2022; and 57m Olympia.

While impounded, Italy has allowed Scheherazade‘s unnamed owner to pay not just for its staff and maintenance but also for the $700m yacht to be refitted.

Now, it appears Graceful has been undergoing a similar upgrade. The report, published on Navalny’s website, explains that Graceful had originally been undergoing repairs in Germany until shortly before the invasion of Ukraine, when it was suddenly moved to the Russian city of Kaliningrad, despite works being far from complete. Investigators argue this means that the yacht’s owner must have known the date that the invasion was due to take place, and that the yacht was a likely sanction target.

While the #Russian invaders are dying at the front, #Putin is building himself a yacht for $31 million

That's how much Putin gave in 2022 to the Graceful yacht, Navalny's team found out. On the eve of the start of the invasion, the yacht was taken out of the shipyard in Germany… pic.twitter.com/OpbnNZP23g

— NEXTA (@nexta_tv) August 23, 2023

Navalny’s team suggests that the decision to remodel Graceful in Russia came after the larger and more modern Scheherazade was impounded in Italy, rendering it unusable to its owner. Scheherazade could potentially end up impounded in Italy for years, or could even be sold at auction like Alfa Nero, which was ditched in Antigua in 2022 and later sold to Google CEO Eric Schmidt.

Graceful‘s lavish $32m refit reportedly includes the construction and equipping of a new owner’s suite, replacement of helicopter landing pads and decks, repainting the entire hull and the installation of new sunbeds, modification of the sauna’s audio system as well as repairs to furniture on board and marble polishing.

The investigators have unearthed a 145-page document (in Russian) allegedly detailing all of the repairs and upgrades. It is not clarified how this document was acquired or where it comes from, but Navalny’s team says: ‘We had to sort through thousands of documents and all sorts of invoices from the yacht, we saw a lot of things.’

Further evidence that the yacht belongs to Putin includes the fact that Russian FSB Federal Security Service staff previously employed on Scheherazade now work on Graceful. A photograph of the owner’s cabin aboard Graceful, published by Navaly’s team, shows a model of Scheherazade on a shelf — indicating they have the same owner.

11/24 This is Putin's office. Here you can see a special communications telephone with the Russian coat of arms. Outside the window, you can see a ship with the FSB emblem. What we are interested in, however, is the thing the shelf is decorated with. pic.twitter.com/63tCshGeqN

— Maria Pevchikh (@pevchikh) August 23, 2023

Investigators conclude that the yacht was most recently registered through a network of offshore companies associated with Putin’s childhood friend Petr Kolbin.

Purchases for the yacht noted by the investigators include three armoured umbrellas, originally designed for the French president, which each cost RUB1.2 m ($12,600); a sofa worth RUB 4m ($41,600); a coffee table worth RUB 8m ($83,000); backgammon sets costing RUB 500,000 ($5,200); and a single comb that cost RUB 1,000 ($116) — close to the Russian living monthly wage.

The Kremlin claims that Putin earns an annual salary of US$140,000.

Navalny came to prominence as a leading Russian anti-corruption activist more than a decade ago, and revealed numerous details of Kremlin officials’ corrupt lifestyles before he was jailed. Navalny’s prison sentence was recently extended by a further 19 years, and he has been sent to a maximum-security penal colony, with limited communication, in an attempt to prevent him from managing his opposition movement.

1/24 Do you want to see what Putin’s yacht looks like inside? Then this thread is for you. Today I am presenting you Graceful. An 82-metres $100m superyacht that Vladimir Putin started to use after his other yacht, Scheherazade, was arrested in Italy. 🧵🧵🧵 pic.twitter.com/296xeg0IpU

— Maria Pevchikh (@pevchikh) August 23, 2023

The report by Navalny’s team states: ‘Half of the country is forced to raise money for underwear and socks for mobilised soldiers, and to make trench candles, while the person who unleashed this war spends RUB 3b just on repairs and purchases for his yacht.’

Despite being sanctioned by the US treasury, Graceful continues to be supplied and equipped by firms based in Europe, investigators highlight — drawing attention to some emails in which, it’s claimed, agents carefully avoid naming the vessel when placing orders, or camouflage payments to avoid scrunity.

Through this complex system of nominee owners, fake invoices, and endless intermediaries, investigators argue that goods are first delivered to Lithuania, driven through the border, and delivered to Kaliningrad where Graceful is docked — circumventing global sanctions on Russia and allowing Putin to continue refurbishing his yacht.

Navalny’s investigators say they will ‘file a complaint against each of these firms and employees involved in serving Putin in circumvention of sanctions.’

Main image: Graceful in port at Sochi in 2015. Image courtesy of Alexxx1979 / Wikimedia Commons