A row has broken out in South Africa over the arrival of a superyacht belonging to a Russian oligarch and ally of President Vladimir Putin. The government has allowed the boat to dock in Cape Town’s harbor, but the city’s mayor wants to block it.
The luxury yacht, called The Nordbillionaire Alexei Mordashov is on his way from Hong Kong to Cape Town. Mordashov is the richest man in Russia and owner of steel producer Severstal. He is on the sanctions list of the European Union and the United States.
The South African government says it is not bound by those sanctions. But Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis considers it a “moral duty” to ban the yacht from his harbor as a statement against the “unjust war” in Ukraine.
Hill-Lewis, a member of the opposition Democratic Alliance party, urges the government to seize Mordashov’s 141-meter yacht. “Our country’s foreign policy regarding Russia’s illegal imperialist war is shameful.”
How he wants to prevent the ship from docking in Cape Town is unclear. Hong Kong previously refused to take action against the superyacht.
pomposity
The government does not intend to heed the mayor’s call. A spokesman calls it ‘important’ and warns that municipal authorities have no legal control over national borders, such as in the port.
“South Africa has no legal obligation to comply with sanctions imposed by the US and the EU,” said President Cyril Ramaphosa’s spokesman. “South Africa’s obligations with regard to sanctions relate only to sanctions specifically adopted by the United Nations.”
South Africa, like many other African countries, is reluctant to criticize Russia. At the UN, the country abstains from voting on resolutions condemning the war.
Richest Russian
Before the war in Ukraine, 57-year-old Mordashov was known as the richest man in Russia with a wealth of about 29 billion euros. While he denies not engaging in Russian politics, he has been the target of Western sanctions from the outset.
Another yacht from Mordashov, the Lady M, was seized in Italy in March. The north is according to business magazine Forbes one of the most extravagant boats in the world, including two helipads, a swimming pool and a cinema. Shortly after the start of the war, the yacht left the Seychelles for the eastern Russian port of Vladivostok.
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