Medvedchuk's yacht: The Prosecutor General's Office announced its position on the arrest and sale of the asset
Kyiv • UNN
The Prosecutor General's Office has taken all possible and legally stipulated measures to arrest, preserve, and subsequently sell the Royal Romance yacht. Further decisions depend on judicial procedures, the powers of ARMA, and international partners, and not on unilateral decisions of the prosecutor's office.
The Office of the Prosecutor General, at the request of UNN, stated its position on the situation with the Royal Romance yacht. They declared that all necessary measures had been taken to seize, preserve, and subsequently sell the yacht, which belonged to Viktor Medvedchuk.
Details
The appeal was preceded by a statement from the former head of the Asset Recovery and Management Agency (ARMA), Olena Duma, alleging that it was the Prosecutor General's Office that was sabotaging the sale of the yacht.
The Office of the Prosecutor General noted that it does not comment on "personal statements or public assessments of individual former officials" and that the Prosecutor General's Office "does not participate in information discussions based on assumptions or incomplete presentation of circumstances."
However, the Prosecutor General's Office agreed to answer a number of questions regarding the essence of the yacht situation.
The Office of the Prosecutor General has taken all possible and legally stipulated measures for the arrest, preservation, and subsequent sale of the Royal Romance yacht. Further decisions depend on judicial procedures, the powers of ARMA, and international partners, and not on unilateral decisions of the prosecutor's office.
They also reminded that it was the Office of the Prosecutor General that initiated the issue of seizing the Royal Romance yacht within the framework of the criminal proceedings known as the "coal case," in which Viktor Medvedchuk is among the accused.
At the request of prosecutors in March-April 2022, Ukrainian courts ruled to seize the yacht and transfer it to ARMA for further sale. On May 5, 2022, these court decisions officially arrived at ARMA. From that moment, ARMA acquired the authority to manage the property, and the Prosecutor General's Office could only facilitate the implementation of these decisions within the framework of international legal assistance.
Regarding inquiries from ARMA, the Prosecutor General confirmed that inquiries were indeed received, but with insistence on acting according to Olena Duma's scenario.
The Office of the Prosecutor General did indeed receive a significant number of letters from ARMA regarding the seizure and sale of the Royal Romance yacht. These appeals were similar in content and essentially amounted to proposals to act according to the scenario proposed by the then head of ARMA, without taking into account the full range of legal and international aspects of the case.
And from the response of the Prosecutor General's Office, it follows that they acted exactly in this way.
Since the yacht is located in the Republic of Croatia, the Prosecutor General's Office immediately took measures for international cooperation. In May 2022, relevant requests were sent to the Croatian side.
As a result, the District Court of Split ruled to temporarily seize the yacht for two years, prohibiting any registration actions and transferring it to ARMA for management. This decision was unprecedented for Croatian practice. Taking into account the limitations of Croatian legislation regarding the terms of arrest, in 2022-2024, the Prosecutor General's Office repeatedly provided additional information to extend the restrictive measures. In total, within the framework of international legal assistance, more than 30 official requests and letters were sent to the competent authorities of Croatia and the USA, and all received materials were transferred to ARMA.
At the same time, despite the existence of court decisions, ARMA's order to hold a competition for the selection of entities for the sale of seized property was issued only on March 15, 2024. Until then, the court decisions effectively remained unfulfilled.
In addition, the Croatian side has repeatedly stated that for the final sale of the property, a final court decision in the criminal proceedings, which provides for confiscation, is necessary. The court hearing of the "coal case" is ongoing, and obtaining a legally binding verdict is objectively a lengthy process.
As of today, the decision to sell the yacht falls within the competence of ARMA and the relevant authorities of the Republic of Croatia – emphasized the Prosecutor General's Office.
The procedure can be significantly accelerated if a final court decision with property confiscation is obtained. The yacht belongs to a legal entity of foreign jurisdiction. According to the principle of "ownership obliges," the costs of maintenance and technical service of the property until final decisions are made on the merits are borne by the owner.
They also added that Viktor Medvedchuk is also being investigated in other criminal proceedings, including in absentia. In these cases, the same yacht was seized and transferred to ARMA for management.
Separately, the Office of the Prosecutor General initiated the application of European Union sanctions. The decision to include Viktor Medvedchuk in the EU sanctions lists was adopted on May 27, 2024, and remains in force.
In this regard, the Royal Romance yacht cannot leave the territory of the EU and can be sold within the framework of the sanctions procedure.
Recall
On April 11, 2022, the Office of the Prosecutor General reported the transfer of Medvedchuk's yacht to ARMA, which was seized as part of the investigation into criminal proceedings regarding the ex-people's deputy's treason.