The war in Ukraine had a direct impact in Monaco on Thursday when an oligarch’s yacht was prevented from leaving and was boarded by armed French customs agents.
The 104-metre Quantum Blue belonging to Sergei Galitsky had been moored in Port Hercule for two years and had been preparing to leave on Wednesday. However, technical problems reportedly delayed its departure by one day and the Monaco authorities and French customs officers boarded the boat on Thursday morning to prevent it leaving.
Galitsky is reported to be the 17th richest man in Russia but his name has not appeared on the EU list of sanctioned individuals. He founded a retail chain called Magnet, which has been described as the Lidl of Russia.
Earlier in the day French authorities in La Ciotat, near Marseille, seized the Amor Vero of Igor Sechin, an oligarch who has been subjected to EU sanctions. He is CEO of the giant state-owned Russian oil company Rosneft.
The EU was particularly keen to act in the case of Sechin because he has been portrayed as one of Putin’s most trusted and closest advisors. EU officials claim that Sechin and Putin are in daily contact.
PHOTO: Quantum Blue moored in Monaco Jack Brodie
