German police confirmed last Thursday that they had seized the Dilbar, a luxury yacht owned by the sister of Russian oligarch Alisher Usmanov, under Germany’s sanctions regime.

Germany confiscates superyacht in Hamburg

On Thursday, German police sources revealed that Germany had officially sequestrated the Dilbar, a 156-metre German-made superyacht belonging to Gulbakhor Ismailova, the sister of Russian oligarch Alisher Usmanov. The yacht, which Forbes valued at 555 million euros, is the sixth-longest yacht in existence and was named after Usmanov’s mother.

German customs had been targeting the luxury yacht, which had been undergoing repairs at a shipyard in Hamburg since October, for several weeks but were unable to seize it due to legal issues regarding its ownership. However, the German Federal Judicial Police have since announced that they had identified the owner of the Dilbar as Gulbakhor Ismailova “after lengthy investigations, and in spite of concealment via offshore companies.”

“The luxury yacht is now under the sanctions regime and so could be confiscated in Hamburg,” German police added on Twitter.

Russian oligarchs targeted under Western sanctions

The confiscation of the Dilbar comes under a series of sanctions on Russian oligarchs due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Usmanov is just one of the dozens of oligarchs that have been hit by Western sanctions, with the Dilbar being the latest superyacht owned by Russian billionaires to be seized.

Usmanov has also been recently hit by sanctions in the UK, with English Premier League football club Everton suspending sponsorship agreements with companies that Usmanov holds shares in.