Frozen Yachts & Maritime Justice: Once meant to fund Ukraine’s war effort. Now bleeding €20M a year

Royal Romance: When frozen yachts expose Europe’s maritime justice and asset seizure failures

Frozen under international sanctions, the superyacht Royal Romance has become a €20 million-a-year liability. Once meant to support Ukraine’s war effort, it now exposes Europe’s maritime justice failures and the legal vacuum surrounding frozen yacht confiscation.

92.5-m of sleek lines, a 12-m pool, hushed acoustic lounges, and transatlantic autonomy.

Its name promised elegance: Royal Romance. A 2015 Feadship masterpiece (De Voogt), once privately owned by Kremlin ally Viktor Medvedchuk, and never available for charter. Estimated pre-seizure value: €200 million.

Former MP and close Putin associate, Medvedchuk escaped house arrest in February 2022 and was re-arrested in April. In the meantime, his yacht discreetly left the harbour for “technical trials,” under watchful Croatian eyes, police and harbourmaster included.

Seized in Rijeka, Croatia, since March 2022, M/Y Royal Romance is more than a luxury vessel. It has become the symbol of a waning oligarchic system - and now, a glaring challenge for Europe’s asset seizure efforts.

Frozen under international sanctions, Royal Romance lies dormant, yet still incurs an estimated €20 million in annual maintenance.

More importantly, it represents a legal quagmire and a political turning point: a call for a new, forward-thinking Europe ready to face its legitimate battles.

A carefully maintained yacht, trapped in transnational legal loopholes - caught between symbolic hope of war funding and the paralysis of institutions.

A EUROPEAN LEGAL ODYSSEY

In May 2024, Ukraine made a bold wartime move: it publicly announced the upcoming sale of Royal Romance through the ARMA (Asset Recovery and Management Agency) to support the state budget. A first! But Europe’s legal machinery immediately seized up.

THE LEGAL ROADMAP

2022 – Entering the Ice Age

• March–April 2022: Following initial EU sanctions against Viktor Medvedchuk, M/Y Royal Romance, his 92.5m superyacht, is immobilised in Croatian waters (Rijeka or Trogir). In April, the Split County Court freezes the yacht at the request of Ukrainian prosecutors, with quarterly judicial reviews required.

  
  

• November 2022: Croatian judge Dinko Mešin issues a search warrant authorising the FBI and local police to inspect the yacht (operation conducted on 19 November). ARMA, present on-site, performs only a visual and photographic inspection. The file collects evidence of concealed ownership transfers via offshore companies.

2023 – The Year of Stagnation

Despite no criminal indictment in Ukraine, Croatian courts extend the freeze six times, up to May 2024. A legally framed limbo, with no real progress.

2024 – Symbolic Thawing

In June, a symbolic blow: the Split court lifts the seizure, ruling that the Ukrainian prosecutor failed to file an indictment within the legal timeframe. Despite extensive documentation from Ukraine, the case is transferred to a new judicial panel, leaving the sale suspended in uncertainty.

19 July 2024 – A New Ukrainian Counterattack

The Pechersk District Court in Kyiv responds: a fresh seizure is ordered, citing new evidence of offshore structures concealing yacht ownership. ARMA regains control of the case, but it’s now navigating a legal labyrinth with global stakes and institutional ambiguity.

2025 – The Institutional Clash Begins

In January 2025, just as ARMA prepares to finalise the sale of Royal Romance via Boathouse Auctions, the High Anti-Corruption Court of Ukraine (HACC) deals a fatal blow: it refuses to validate the legal transfer documents - documents required for the buyer to legally take possession of the yacht.

The refusal, based on procedural and documentation compliance issues, causes a total administrative freeze. Without these acts, no sale can be executed. The Ukrainian state is left holding a legal ghost ship: not sold, not returned, and generating zero value.

But in February 2025, ARMA strikes back. Frustrated, it refers the matter to NABU (Ukraine’s National Anti-Corruption Bureau), accusing certain judicial bodies of orchestrated “voluntary obstruction.” ARMA estimates the financial damage at over €130 million and warns that the yacht cannot be maintained indefinitely at public expense - nor kept as a floating piece of evidence.

This unprecedented move by ARMA - taking action against fellow state institutions - exposes a deep institutional rift at the heart of Ukraine’s legal apparatus.

What unfolds is a three-dimensional standoff:

• Judicial - between prosecutors and judicial authorities,

• Political - over the handling of Russian assets,

• Diplomatic - as Ukraine had committed to liquidating or returning certain confiscated assets under international oversight.

And now? Royal Romance on the move under armed escort

Royal Romance has been quietly transferred from the naval base in Split to a shipyard in Trogir for maintenance, under joint escort by Croatian police and a private security firm. Ukraine’s Asset Recovery and Management Agency (ARMA) has confirmed that the yacht will later be returned to Split, where it will remain under arrest pending the next phase of the asset realisation process.

This transfer comes as Ukraine adopts a major overhaul of its legal framework, aiming to unblock months of administrative and judicial paralysis in the management of seized Russian and Belarusian assets.

Key aspects of the reform include:

• An expanded mandate for ARMA allowing it to liquidate foreign assets under sanctions

• The introduction of clear deadlines for prosecutors to transfer assets to the agency

• The appointment of external managers via open public tenders (Prozorro system) to strengthen transparency

• Mandatory quarterly reporting, an external audit mechanism, and an independent public oversight council

• The creation of a dedicated reconstruction fund for Ukraine, directly fed by proceeds from seized assets

“This is a historic decision for the state,” said ARMA’s head Olena Duma, describing a long-awaited turning point for civil society, international partners, and the armed forces alike.

WHAT'S NEXT?

Although the sale of Royal Romance has not yet been officially approved, the recent reforms suggest a likely acceleration. Between the staggering maintenance costs (over €20 million per year), the increasing pressure of war, and the political will to monetise sanctioned assets, a swift sale is becoming a far more realistic outcome.

The Feadship remains under judicial authority for now, but Kyiv finally has the tools to move forward, in close coordination with Croatian authorities.

A WAR OF INSTITUTIONS

Three years after its initial seizure, Royal Romance is no longer an asset - it’s a liability for the Ukrainian state, an embarrassment for Croatia, and a nightmare for international cooperation. While institutions await the perfect alignment of courts, diplomacy, and procedures, the yacht has become the emblem of a system unable to punish or to capitalise.

On paper, it’s a gem. In practice, it’s a money pit. And out at sea, the legal storm shows no sign of calming.

RESETTING THE COMPASS: SOLUTIONS MODE

What if Royal Romance became the catalyst for a new model? It’s time to move from paralysis to action, from scattered efforts to a shared course:

• A European protocol that freezes assets with a predefined objective

• A multidisciplinary task force (legal, maritime, strategic) to accompany the asset through its lifecycle

• An influence-based diplomacy - deliberate, operational, and transparent

• A European harmonisation through soft law, preserving the sovereignty of each member state, yet united by a common goal

These yachts are not just assets. They are levers, symbols, opportunities.

Frozen for over three years across Europe, their exorbitant maintenance costs are often borne by States. In the end, who is truly trapped in this so-called "virtuous freeze" - if it lacks both direction and consciousness?

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