Ukraine nationalises Russian oligarch's ship worth US$24.5 million – Ukraine's Security Service

Ukraine’s Supreme Anti-Corruption Court has granted a lawsuit brought by the Ministry of Justice seeking the confiscation of an asset belonging to Russian oligarch Alexander Verkhovsky, based on evidence provided by the Security Service of Ukraine (SSU).

Source: press service of the Security Service of Ukraine

Details: The asset in question is a large fishing trawler, the Bukhta Sokolovskaya, which was being built at a shipyard in the Ukrainian city of Mykolaiv before Russia’s full-scale invasion.

The commercial vessel is worth over UAH 1 billion (about US$24.5 million).

"The nationalised trawler was a component of the commercial ‘fleet’ of a sanctioned oligarch who is a member of the Kremlin inner circle. Verkhovsky is also one of the financial backers of Russia’s war against Ukraine," the SSU said.

"The Russian businessman’s fishing business enables him to regularly transfer billions of roubles to the Russian budget. These funds are then spent on weapons and supplies for occupying groups of the aggressor state which are fighting against the Defence Forces of Ukraine.

To evade sanctions, the ship’s beneficial owner registered it to a company he controls in Russia's Primorsky Krai. SSU employees uncovered the transaction and froze the Russian trawler in order for it to be subsequently confiscated and nationalised in favour of Ukraine."

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