The Alexei Navalny Foundation has published an investigation into an Estonian company's supply of parts for Russian President Vladimir Putin’s yacht. Some refurbishments for the vessel have been delivered to Kaliningrad via Lithuania, according to the investigation.
Putin’s yacht Graceful was hastily transported from Germany to Kaliningrad before Russia launched its large-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and was completed there.
In June 2023, during the St Petersburg International Economic Forum, the refurbished ship sailed from Kaliningrad to St Petersburg. Now, according to Navalny’s team, the superyacht is on its way to Sochi via the Northern Sea Route with a special escort.
Navalny’s team argue that the yacht is intended for Putin because it is escorted by FSB security and equipped with a special communication phone that can be used by authorities dealing with information classified as “top secret”.
The yacht’s open deck is said to have a helipad, a room with a round table that can seat 12 people, a dining elevator and a large golden bathroom. According to Navalny’s team, the cost of the coffee tables alone was around 82,000 euros and the sofa cost 41,000.
The yacht’s total cost, including all repairs and furnishings, is estimated at 32 million US dollars spent by 2022, or almost 3 billion roubles at the current exchange rates.
A few months after the outbreak of the war, Graceful was made subject to American sanctions, but its repairs were carried out through a complex system, an entire infrastructure of assistants in Europe, Turkey and Dubai, helping to circumvent the restrictions.
The Estonian company Breezemarine has agreed to buy the screens for Putin’s yacht and bring them to Russia and also to help reprogram them. An Estonian intermediary picked up the equipment in St Petersburg, found a courier to take it back to the factory in Germany, and the repaired equipment was returned to Russia in spring 2023.
Italian suppliers continued to deliver things to Graceful. In order to circumvent the sanctions, the purchases were invoiced first to a Russian company, then to an Estonian company, Distinto OÜ, and finally to a Dubai company. After payment, the goods were shipped from Italy to Lithuania for delivery to Kaliningrad, directly to the yacht.
The Estonian media interviewed Sergei Chekomazov, who is linked to Breezemarine and is mentioned in the Navalny investigation. He called the accusations nonsense and assured that he was not exporting anything to Russia.
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