UAE still offers safe harbor for Russian oligarchs’ assets
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — The man considered the wealthiest oligarch in Russia, who has been photographed playing ice hockey with President Vladimir Putin, joins a growing list of those transferring — or sailing — their prized assets to Dubai as the West tightens its massive sanctions program on Russia’s economy.
Vladimir Potanin, head of the world’s largest refined nickel and palladium producer, may not be sanctioned by the United States or Europe yet; such sanctions could roil metal markets and potentially disrupt supply chains, experts say. As the biggest shareholder in mining company Nornickel, Potanin had a personal fortune of $30.6 billion before the war on Ukraine, according to Forbes.
But like an increasing number of blacklisted Russian oligarchs, he has apparently taken the precaution of moving his $300 million superyacht to the safe haven of Dubai, in the U.S.-allied United Arab
Emirates.
The Nirvana, a sleek 289-foot-long megayacht equipped with a glass elevator, gym, hot tub, 3D cinema and two terrariums of exotic reptiles, stands out even in a port full of flashy floating mansions.
The Dutch-built vessel with a navy blue hull was docked on Tuesday flying the flag of the Cayman Islands at Dubai’s Port Rashid — within view of sanctioned Russian parliamentarian Andrei Skoch’s $156 million yacht Madame Gu.
Representatives for Potanin did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The arrival of Russianowned luxury vessels in Dubai has become an outsized symbol of the UAE’s reluctance to oppose Moscow’s war on Ukraine and enforce Western sanctions.
One of a shrinking number of countries where Russians can still fly directly, the financial center has become a thriving hub for Russia’s rich, in part because of its reputation for welcoming money from anywhere — both legitimate and shady.
“They haven’t tried to hide the fact they’re accepting oligarchs themselves and their yachts,” said Julia Friedlander, a former senior policy adviser for Europe in the U.S. Treasury’s Office of Terrorism and Financial Intelligence. “When it comes to taking sides in the conflict, it’s not in their political interest to do so. They want to keep their access to money from around the world.”
The UAE Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The stance has stoked tensions with the United States, which has sought to pressure its Gulf Arab ally to help combat Russian sanctions evasion. Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo, one of the main U.S. coordinators on the Russian sanctions strategy, visited the UAE last week to voice American concerns about Russian financial flows and demand increased vigilance.
Still, there’s no indication that President Joe Biden will impose secondary sanctions, leaving Washington with few pressure points.