Hong Kong “sheltered” the yacht of a russian oligarch

The US State Department criticized the Hong Kong authorities for allowing the luxury yacht “Nord” belonging to the sanctioned russian oligarch Oleksiy Mordashov to dock in its waters.

The possible use of Hong Kong as a safe harbor for persons who evade sanctions from several jurisdictions at once may carry reputational risks for Hong Kong, according to the State Department.

At the same time, the head of Hong Kong’s administration, John Lee, who himself was under US sanctions for suppressing civil liberties, said that the city would not comply with unilateral sanctions imposed on Mordashov by individual jurisdictions.

Asked about the russian oligarch’s yacht docked near the International Financial Center, Lee said there was allegedly “no legal basis” for the city to comply with Western sanctions, instead Hong Kong would only abide by UN sanctions. “We will just laugh at the so-called sanctions,” the government official commented.

While a number of russian superyachts have been confiscated, the 141-meter “Nord” can be seen moored in Hong Kong waters. The ship is valued at more than 500 million dollars.

Mordashov, a billionaire close to putin, is one of the oligarchs targeted by the European Union and the United States after russia invaded Ukraine in February. He is also the main shareholder and chairman of the board of Severstal, the largest steel and mining company of russian federation. Mordashov’s fortune is estimated at 18 billion dollars.

Previously, USM wrote that russian oligarch Oleksiy Kuzmichev denounced the condemned yacht from the French gonernment .