ROME – The Italian police have seized some 140 million euros worth of Russian assets in the peninsula, including a 27-million-dollar yacht and a luxurious Tuscan villa belonging to Russian oligarchs, financial authorities said.

 The 65-metre yacht ‘Lady M,’ which had been moored in the port of Imperia, belongs to Alexei Mordashov, President of the steel company Severstal and close associate of Vladimir Putin, and is worth some dlrs 27 million according to Forbes magazine. It was the first yacht to be sequestered by order of the Financial Security Committee (CSF) as a result of Western sanctions on Russians following the country’s invasion of Ukraine.

 ‘Lena,’ a yacht owned by Gennady Timchenko, owner of Volga Group and also a friend of Putin, was also due to be seized Saturday. The 52-metre long vessel is moored in the harbour of Sanremo and has an estimated value of 50 million euros.

 Villa Lazzareschi, a 3-million-euro property in the province of Lucca belonging to politician and businessman Oleg Savchenko has also been confiscated by police.

 Properties in the province of Como have also been seized, such as Roudolfovitch Soloviev’s 8-million-euro home, while in Sardinia Alisher Usmanov’s 17-million-euro property has also been cordoned off.

 The CSF, founded in 2001, is chaired by the Director General of the Treasury and made up of representatives of the Economic, Interior, Justice, and Foreign Affairs ministries, as well as from the Bank of Italy, the Carabinieri and of the National Anti-Mafia Directorate.

 "The Committee,” explains the Ministry of Economy, “conducted a survey of the measures to freeze funds, movable and immovable economic resources, so far adopted against the Russian persons and entities identified in the lists attached to the aforementioned regulations. [They] will continue to ensure the maximum connection of the administrative and investigative initiatives and actions necessary to ensure the effectiveness of the sanctions."

 According to Il Fatto Quotidiano, the task has not been easy as many of the Russian oligarchs have had time to hide or avoid the punishment, for example by selling their shares or, in some cases, by using their dual citizenship with Malta or Cyprus to move their assets.

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