Ukraine has superyacht from Makkum auctioned: the ‘Prince of Darkness’ has lost his 150 million euro ship

The ship measures more than 92 meters, has a spacious swimming pool and even has a splashing waterfall on board. The Royal Romance also has room for fourteen guests, 21 crew members and has five floors. In 2015, Feadship employees in Makkum put the finishing touches to the superyacht of Ukrainian oligarch Viktor Medvedchuk. He undoubtedly intended to take wonderful trips across the oceans, but the war in Ukraine ruined that pleasure.

The superyacht of the pro-Russian Medvedchuk was detained by the authorities in Croatia in 2022. During the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the ship was moored in the port of Rijeka. A Croatian judge decided earlier this year to transfer the Royal Romance to Ukraine. That country has now decided to auction the yacht to raise money. The Dutch auction house Troostwijk Auctions has been given the honor of managing the sale.

Three international auction houses approached the Ukrainian government for permission to auction the superyacht, but the choice ultimately fell on Troostwijk Auctions. According to director Arno Hendrikse, this is the most expensive object that his auction house has ever auctioned. He hopes for a return of between 100 million and 200 million euros. “But the buying public is not very large. So I don’t know if it will work.”

‘Great victory’

The Asset Recovery and Management Agency (ARMA), a Ukrainian government agency, is pleased that the yacht will soon go under the hammer. Medvedchuk is a personal friend of Russian President Vladimir Putin and has been accused of treason by Ukraine. “This is already a big victory,” says Olena Duma on the ARMA website. “We believe that Medvedchuk’s yacht will now be sold in a transparent auction and thus generate significant revenue for Ukraine.”

Medvedchuk was put on the sanctions list of the United States, Canada and Australia in 2014. The consequence of this was that companies were not allowed to do business with the wealthy Ukrainian. This had to do with the role he played in the annexation of Crimea by Russia: the occupied territories put Medvedchuk forward to negotiate with the government in Kyiv. The fact that Feadship had nevertheless built a superyacht for the oligarch caused quite a stir five years after its delivery.

Then discovered television program Pointer namely that Medvedchuk is the man behind Fregata Marine Ltd. was, the company registered as the owner of the Royal Romance. For example, the fact that Feadship had done business with a person on the sanctions list could mean that company employees could be arrested if they set foot on US soil. It resulted in concerned reactions from the FNV trade union. Feadship did not want to respond to questions from this newspaper at the time.

Extra alert

The Royal Romance will soon go under the hammer. It is not yet clear when the auction will take place. Normally, objects at Troostwijk are online for a few weeks, but director Hendrikse estimates that the yacht will need a little more time. According to him, Troostwijk will also have to be extra alert to possible cyber attacks from Russia, where there may be plans to sabotage the auction.

It seems a certainty that Ukraine will rake in millions of euros from the sale of the Royal Romance. From Kyev, people who are extremely wealthy and are considering purchasing a luxury ship are encouraged to participate in the auction. “Whoever buys Medvedchuk’s yacht will deal a political blow to the Putin regime and find a place in the pages of world history,” said ARMA’s Duma.