Axioma, Russian oligarch Dmitry Pumpyansky's mega yacht, 72 meters long and valued at more than 76 million euros, will be auctioned by the Gibraltar government on Tuesday, becoming the first of the luxury ships to be sold since it was imposed restrictions on a hundred of the great fortunes after the invasion of Ukraine ordered by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
However, the Axiom is not going to be sold for the benefit of the Ukrainian people, but for an American investment bank, JP Morgan, to whom Pumpyansky owes close to 20 million euros.
The ship, which has six luxurious guest cabins, a swimming pool, a 3D cinema room, a gym, a Jacuzzi and a fully equipped spa, was blocked by port authorities after docking in Gibraltar last March.
Its owner, Dmitry Pumpyansky, is the owner and chairman of the steel pipe manufacturer OAO TMK, a supplier to the Russian state-owned energy company Gazprom. With a personal fortune estimated at 2,167 million euros, he was subject to sanctions by the United Kingdom, the EU and the US after the invasion of Ukraine.
British authorities point to Pumpyansky as one of the oligarchs "closest to Putin." And the Axiom is set to become the first of the mega-yachts suspected of being owned by oligarchs under sanction to be put up for sale.
As a spokesman for the Gibraltar Courts Service told The Guardian, "the Axiom was blocked by virtue of an admiralty claim in the high court".
