A wealthy Russian businessman claims the UK detained his $50 million superyacht to look 'tough'

• A Russian businessman claimed the UK detained his superyacht to look "tough," Bloomberg reported.
• The $50 million vessel was detained by the UK last March, though its owner hasn't been sanctioned.

A wealthy Russian businessman who wasn't featured on any sanctions lists following Russia's invasion of Ukraine has claimed the UK detained his luxury superyacht to look "tough," Bloomberg reported.

Phi, a 192-foot superyacht worth around $50 million, was detained by the UK government last March after Russia invaded Ukraine and the UK banned all Russian-owned or -operated ships from its ports.

The UK's National Crime Agency had declined to name Phi's owner, merely saying that he was a Russian businessman who kept his ownership of the vessel "deliberately well hidden" and who hadn't been sanctioned by the UK.

Court filings say that Sergei Georgievich Naumenko, a Russian property developer, is the beneficial owner, though The Financial Times previously reported the vessel was ultimately owned by Vitaly Vasilievich Kochetkov, the founder of Motiv Telecom.

Phi has been moored in Canary Wharf, London's financial hub, since the end of 2021. Its detention last year means that it remains the property of the owner but isn't allowed to leave. In late March this year, Naumenko sued the UK's transport department, asking the court to let him move vessel and award him undisclosed damages.

Naumenko's lawyers have argued that by detaining the vessel, the UK government is trying to push him to criticize the Russian government, Bloomberg reported.

"Disproportionate action against individuals cannot be justified by a generalized desire to appear tough, whether that message is intended for consumption by the domestic electorate or elsewhere," his lawyer Nigel Giffin said in court filings viewed by Bloomberg.

Naumenko has said that he has no connections with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

But the UK's Department for Transport disagrees. "The system of patronage under President Putin's regime means that Mr. Naumenko was unlikely to have made and retained such a level of wealth without showing loyalty and directly or indirectly benefiting from the Russian regime," Jason Pobjoy, a lawyer for the department, said in court documents, per Bloomberg.

At the time of Phi's detention, Grant Shapps, the UK's then-secretary of state for transport, said that Phi belonged to a "Russian oligarch" and "friends of Putin."

Pobjoy said that detaining a superyacht could influence whether other wealthy Russians continue showing political support to Putin, per Bloomberg. Shapps previously said that Phi's detention had "turned an icon of Russia's power and wealth into a clear and stark warning to Putin and his cronies."

When Phi was detained, the vessel's captain said it was "government overreach and nothing more than a publicity stunt." He added that Phi's owner was "guilty by association of his passport only" and had "never been connected with anyone" who was sanctioned.

The superyacht, built by Royal Huisman, has a freshwater swimming pool and a wine cellar.

When contacted by Insider, the Department for Transport declined to comment. Naumenko's lawyers did not immediately respond to a request for comment.