The US has auctioned off russian oligarch Kerimov's superyacht

The superyacht Amadea, which was confiscated from russian oligarch Suleiman Kerimov in 2022, has changed owners, Business Insider reported.

The US Department of Justice put the 106-metre vessel up for a closed auction, which ended on 10 September, and sold it to an unknown buyer.

This information was confirmed to the publication by the Federal Marshals Service. The amount of the transaction has not been disclosed.

According to the US Department of Justice, the Amadea was valued at $300 million, while the latest independent appraisal reduced its value to $230 million.

The American authorities wanted to sell the Amadea as quickly as possible, as maintaining the yacht cost taxpayers almost $1 million per month to pay for the crew, fuel and insurance.

Since its seizure, maintaining the yacht has cost the American authorities around $32 million.

The yacht was seized in May 2022 in Fiji at the request of the United States in connection with sanctions against Kerimov, and then towed to San Diego. In June 2025, a federal court in New York authorised the sale of Amadea.

The Amadea was one of the most high-profile finds of Operation KleptoCapture, which the US Department of Justice launched after russia's invasion of Ukraine to search for and confiscate the assets of sanctioned businessmen.

Suleiman Kerimov has been under sanctions since 2018 for his ties to russian dictator Vladimir Putin and has been nicknamed the ‘russian Gatsby.’

Ownership of the confiscated yacht poses risks, as ownership rights may be challenged.

Former Rosneft head Eduard Khudainatov claimed that he was the owner of Amadea. In April 2025, he asked the court to suspend the sale of the yacht and prohibit its sale for less than $230 million pending the appeal.

Khudainatov argued that an auction at an undervalued price would ‘harm’ the owner, recalling a similar situation with Dmitry Pumpyansky's yacht, which was sold in Gibraltar for half its estimated price.

Source: LIGA.net