- A superyacht owned by a sanctioned Russian billionaire left Russia after seven months for Hong Kong.
- Alexei Mordashov, Russia's third-richest person, is said to be the owner of $500 million Nord.
A $500 million superyacht belonging to a sanctioned Russian billionaire has sailed to Hong Kong after being docked in Russia for more than seven months.
Alexei Mordashov, a steel and mining tycoon, is believed to be the owner of the 465-foot vessel called Nord, per $4. Nord was anchored in the port of Vladivostok, south east Russia, from late March until September 28 when it departed, according to data from vessel-tracking site, $4.
After one week of sailing, Mordashov's luxury yacht ended up mooring in Hong Kong port on Wednesday, per Marine Traffic. $4 reported Nord initially listed a port in Vietnam as its destination, but changed to Hong Kong a few days later.
Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Nord set sail on March 12 from the Seychelles and was tracked in the Singapore Strait on March 22, $4 previously reported, citing Marine Traffic data. From there, it traveled to Vladivostok, where it remained for over seven months.
Since February, the West has launched barrages of sanctions against Russia to cripple its economy and put pressure on President Vladimir Putin to call off Moscow's invasion of Ukraine. The measures include sanctioning wealthy Russian elites and oligarchs by freezing their assets such as private jets and superyachts.
Mordashov has an estimated net worth of about $18.7 billion, making him Russia's third richest person, according to$4. He was sanctioned by the $4, $4, and the $4 after Moscow began its attack on Ukraine.
The day after he was hit with EU sanctions, Mordashov $4 he had "absolutely nothing to do with the emergence of the current geopolitical tension" and didn't understand why he had come under sanctions.
So far, Nord has seemed to evade seizure or being frozen. However, some of Mordashov's other assets haven't been so lucky. In March, Italy seized a $4 connected to Mordashov, as well as a $4 on the island of Sardinia, $4 $4.
According to $4, Mordashov $4 in Nordgold, a mining firm, to his wife and stepped down as a director.