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Photo: Feadship (Composite)
How’s that for the most spectacular and unexpected plot twist? Royal Romance, the gorgeous Feadship superyacht that came closest to becoming the first seized luxury asset to actually benefit Ukraine, might be thisclose to going back to the original owner.
Royal Romance can’t be an unfamiliar name with superyacht watches, and not just because it became one of the many seized vessels to make headlines in 2022 with the first wave of international sanctions. Delivered in 2015 by Feadship, it’s a fully custom vessel estimated at well over $220 million, a genuine jewel of superyacht construction that never showed itself to mortal eyes.
That’s because its direct beneficiary (owner for regular folk) was Ukrainian-born politician and billionaire Viktor Medvedchuk, who was accused of high treason at the start of the Russo-Ukrainian war but eventually exiled to Russia in a prisoner swap. Medvedchuk is a close ally of Putin’s and they’re also good friends – Putin is the godfather of Medvedchuk’s daughter.
Once Medvedchuk was included on sanctions lists, Ukraine’s ARMA (Asset Recovery and Management Agency) sourced ownership of Royal Romance back to him, and then tracked the superyacht down. With help from the FBI, the vessel was arrested in Croatia and has never left port after that.
Photo: ARMA
ARMA seemed to have all its legal ducks in a row, as evidenced by a Croatian court declaring it the new technical owner, which greenlighted the upcoming forced sale. Royal Roman would have become the first seized superyacht to sell at auction and actually benefit Ukraine.
In June this year, proceedings on the forced sale took a turn for the worse, as a new paper owner emerged to claim that the seizure had been illegal. It didn’t help that changes and turmoil within ARMA delayed filing certain documents with Croatian courts.
Legal hurdles and the pending lawsuits have stalled all procedures toward the final sale of the superyacht, Yaroslav Zheleznyak, People’s Deputy, says in a statement, as cited by one trade publication. Not only that, but Ukraine might lose technical ownership of the vessel for good, which means it could return to Medvedchuk.
“ARMA cannot sell Medvedchuk’s yacht seized in Croatia,” Zheleznyak says. “Moreover, Ukraine may lose this asset altogether. The Split District Court canceled the seizure of the yacht due to the lack of an indictment in the criminal case from the Prosecutor General’s Office.”
While this is an official statement, ARMA has yet to address the latest hiccup, though it continues to post regular updates on the kind of cash it’s raking in from sales of Medvedchuk’s seized assets.
Royal Romance is a five-decker measuring 92.5 meters (303.5 feet) in total length, offering an interior volume of 2,901 GT. Medvedchuk never offered it for charter, which means that the little we know of its interiors comes via the very ungenerous official description and a handful of photos snapped by the agents during the initial arrest.
With exterior design by De Voogt Naval Architects and with interiors by Seymour Diamond, Royal Romance is primed for a life of luxury for all ages, offering several jacuzzis and a pool with a waterfall, a cosmetology treatment room, a children’s suite, a cinema, a gym, and a wellness area rivaling what you’ll find in a 5-star resort.
Considering reports from earlier this year that Medvedchuk hired six crew members to go undercover onboard and try to steal Royal Romance by sailing it out of the marina, somewhere in Russia, Medvedchuk is probably raising a glass at the latest development.
