Russian oligarch Dimitri Pumpiansky’s yacht, which has been subject to Western sanctions, has been sold for $37.5 million by Gibraltar, where it was seized in March, the British enclave’s maritime judiciary announced on Tuesday, Le Figaro reported, citing News .ro.

That body, called the Marshal of the Admiralty, said in a statement that it would not disclose the name of the buyer.

The proceeds from the auction will allow the Gibraltar authorities to compensate the oligarch’s creditors for losses. A total of 63 purchase offers were received during the yacht auction.

The 72.5-meter-long Axioma was seized from billionaire Dmitry Pumpiansky in March following sanctions from the UK, the EU and the US.

The sale of the Axioma yacht caused a stir because it is not being sold for the benefit of the Ukrainian people, but for the American investment bank JP Morgan.

This bank in December provided a loan of 20.5 million euros to a company registered in the British Virgin Islands, whose shareholder was a Cypriot company owned by Dimitriy Pumpianski.

JP Morgan believed that adding the oligarch to the list of Russian figures subject to British sanctions was a violation of this loan agreement.

Sanctions lead, in particular, to the freezing of the assets of the relevant businessmen, which jeopardizes the repayment of debts.

Therefore, the bank asked the Gibraltar authorities to seize the yacht, which was registered as one of the collateral for the loan.

Dimitri Pumpiansky also fell under EU sanctions imposed after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Several countries, including Spain, Italy and France, have seized yachts belonging to the richest Russians under European sanctions that will freeze all their assets in the EU.

On the same topic:

• Vladimir Putin gave advice to Russian oligarchs who have run out of yachts