In 2014, a group of sycophantic oligarchs reportedly gave Vladimir Putin’s £500 million superyacht as a Christmas present.
According to dissident news outlet Dossier Centre, Alina Kabaeva, 39, is reported to have used the opulent 150-meter-long Scheherazade.
According to fresh discoveries, a group of Russian oligarchs led by Gennady Timchenko, 69, a close associate of Vladimir Putin, amassed the astronomical figure for the yacht, which has since been confiscated in Italy due to sanctions.
It has been reported that Vladimir Putin’s £500 million superyacht was delivered as a Christmas gift by a group of groveling billionaires in 2014.
Alina Kabaeva, the Kremlin leader’s ‘girlfriend,’ is alleged to have utilized the opulent, 148-meter-long Scheherazade (shown interior).
A group of Russian oligarchs allegedly collected the exorbitant money for the yacht, which was impounded in Italy due to sanctions.
Putin presents Alina Kabaeva with the ‘For Merit to the Fatherland’ order in 2005 at the Kremlin.
The amount was purportedly amassed by a group of Russian oligarchs led by Gennady Timchenko (left), 69, a close associate of Vladimir Putin.
The existence of the super yacht was exposed in March, with the British captain Guy Bennett-Pierce and the majority of the crew consisting of Russian secret service agents.
Now, recent disclosures show that the floating palace is ostensibly owned by Eduard Khudainatov, former president of Rosneft and Igor Sechin’s longtime KGB buddy.
According to a Dossier Centre study, however, Khudainatov “is a front man for Putin and his entourage.”
Five offshore firms transferred just over 583 million euros for the construction of the Scheherazade.
In 2005, Putin presents Alina Kabaeva with the ‘For Merit to the Fatherland’ order at the Kremlin.
The presence of the super yacht was disclosed in March, along with the identity of its British captain, Guy Bennett-Pierce.
According to the story, the superyacht sailed near to Black Sea properties associated with Putin (seen yesterday).
Alera Assets, Diams Overseas, High Definition, Imperial Yachts, and Onda Mare wired the funds.
The contract was apparently signed by Diams Overseas, a British Virgin Islands-registered business.
The date was December 30, 2014, making it a New Year’s gift from a group of Russia’s wealthiest oligarchs to the country’s leader.
Traditionally, Russians offer holiday gifts at the New Year rather than Christmas.
Bennett-Pierce has never seen Putin on board, according to a quote.
Kabaeva, Putin’s alleged mistress and mother of multiple Putin children, was on board, according to a Dossier source.
The £500 million Scheherazade is one of the world’s most costly superyachts.
High Definition, one of the offshore businesses, can be related to Ziyavudin Magomedov (pictured left)
The floating palace is technically held by Eduard Khudainatov, the former president of Rosneft, according to new disclosures (pictured with Putin in 2010)
In May, officers boarded The Scheherazade to provide documentation to the British captain of the yacht, Guy Bennett Pearce.
Italy’s financial police patrol boat is pictured in front of the multimillion-dollar mega yacht Scheherazade in the Tuscan town of Marina di Carrara in the month of May.
Elegant attributes of a $700 million yacht
The yacht Scheherezade is 140 meters long and is said to have cost 75 billion rubles, making it the thirteenth largest superyacht in the world.
It has six deck floors, which is the same as two residential buildings.
The boat accommodates 18 guests in nine luxurious bedrooms and 40 crew members in 20 cabins.
Additional features include:
Dual helipads
A swimming pool
A spa complex
A beauty salon
Huge living rooms
Royal cabins
According to the story, the superyacht sailed near to Black Sea properties associated with Putin.
One is his official getaway, Bocharov Ruchei, in Sochi, while the other is a rumored £1 billion unofficial palace outside Gelendzhik.
The identity of the other oligarchs responsible for the holiday present remain unclear.
However, one of the offshore businesses, High Definition, has ties to Ziyavudin Magomedov, an oligarch who was detained in 2018 and charged with “racketeering and theft of state funds.”
This corporation contributed a total of £50 million to the yacht in two separate payments.
Magomedov and his brother, the former senator Magomed Magomedov, are in jail pending trial.
Timchenko has defended the imprisoned “yacht donor” before the court.
In May, Italian authorities formally notified the yacht’s captain that the vessel could not depart the dry dock where it is having a multimillion-pound refurbishment.
Since March, authorities in the Italian town of Marina di Carrara near Pisa had been combing through documents to identify the ship’s owner.
Navalny stated that the crew had been whisked away during the night and replaced with a skeleton crew of British nationals who have been instructed to remain onboard for the time being.
The yacht has six decks, toilet paper holders plated in gold, marble bathroom fixtures, and two helicopter pads.
The date was December 30, 2014, making it a New Year’s present from a group of the Russian leader’s wealthiest oligarchs.
The ‘Scheherezade’ is a six-deck yacht with two apartment buildings’ worth of room, a spa, a swimming pool, and a beauty shop.
In August 2020, one of the world’s largest superyachts, ‘Scheherazade,’ will anchor in the Bodrum area of Turkey.
Since the end of March, the Italian financial police have been investigating the vessel, which has been receiving a refit at Marina di Carrara near Pisa since September.
Workers involved in the re-fitting of the vessel have characterized it as a little floating metropolis, equipped with “several swimming pools, a spa, a sauna, a theater, ballrooms, and a gym.”
The ship apparently boasts Putin’s personal touches, including a judo gym with framed photographs of his black belts.
In the midst of rumors that Putin’s health is failing, the boat even has its own hospital, according to staff.
Scheherazade is the female protagonist of the Middle Eastern collection of stories known as the One Thousand and One Nights, from which the ship’s name is derived. It is also the name of a symphonic suite based on the tales by Russian composer Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov.
The boat accommodates 18 guests in nine luxurious bedrooms and 40 crew members in 20 cabins.
In May, the Italian Financial Police issued the following statement: “After investigation by the fiscal authorities, it has come to light that the owner of The Scheherazade has considerable commercial ties to key Russian government officials.
“Based on these factors, it was proposed that the boat be placed on the current European Union sanctions list, and the Italian Minister of Finance agreed,”
GRACEFUL is Putin’s “second yacht,” a smaller, older craft.
Vladimir Putin claims to be fairly affluent, yet it is believed that he secretly possesses a $100 billion fortune.
The Graceful, a smaller, older sailboat, has long been believed to be Putin’s.
A source from the sector informed DailyMail.com that the Graceful’s hull was laid at a Russian naval shipyard before being completed in Germany.
The Graceful departed Germany around two weeks prior to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and is currently docked in the Russian Baltic Sea enclave of Kaliningrad, well beyond the reach of Western sanctions.
The Scheherazade, however, is now in drydock in Italy for repairs, and a source with knowledge of the situation stated that it would be impossible for it to set sail until the end of March.
The Graceful, a smaller, older vessel sighted leaving Hamburg last month, has long been believed of belonging to Vladimir Putin.
The Graceful left Germany on February 7 (above), roughly two weeks prior to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and is currently docked in Russia’s Baltic Sea enclave of Kaliningrad, out of reach of Western sanctions.