By Robert A Emmanuel
With more than seven days having passed since the auction of the Alfa Nero, a legal matter was said to be the final thread holding back the 267ft superyacht from taking to the seas with its new owner.
Despite the purported seven-day deadline, and the billionaire former tech executive Eric Schmidt’s willingness to pay his $67.6 million bid into the government Treasury, he has not done so as lawyers advised him to hold off until the conclusion of the latest court matter.
In a final bid to stop the completion of the sale of the Alfa Nero, Yulia Guryeva-Motlokhov – the daughter of sanctioned Russian Andrey Guryev who is said to have previously owned it – was seeking an injunction to prevent the sale, claiming an ownership interest.
Yesterday afternoon, a High Court judge rejected Guryeva-Motlokhov’s application, paving the way for Schmidt’s purchase to be completed.
Two weeks ago, a previous emergency injunction application to block the sale – brought on behalf of BVI-based firm Flying Dutchman which also claims ownership of the boat – was denied by the Court of Appeal.
Speaking at yesterday’s post-Cabinet press briefing, Chief of Staff Lionel Hurst spoke about the administration’s perspective on the matter.
“Yesterday, when Prime Minister Gaston Browne spoke with [Schmidt] during the Cabinet meeting, he indicated that he had been advised by a lawyer connected to the Antigua Port Authority [that there will be a wait] until such time as the decision is made.
“The ability for us to access the resources in order to make payments to those who have been creditors of the vessel and its crew [is close] but we cannot say precisely,” Hurst said.
Since its anchorage in the waters of Falmouth Harbour over a year ago, the Alfa Nero has been mired in controversy as assets owned by Andrey Guryev were placed under heavy international sanctions (US, UK and EU) as a result of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The government, under the diplomacy of Sir Ronald Sanders, was able to get US sanctions lifted to facilitate the sale of the luxury vessel, but this also led to last minute legal challenges by Flying Dutchman, and Vita Felice which claims to own art work on board, as well as Guryeva-Motlokhov.
