Following the SSU’s investigation, the court seized the fishing trawler Bukhta Sokolovskaya, which belongs to the holding of the sanctioned russian oligarch Oleksandr Verkhovskyi.

The value of the commercial vessel is almost UAH 1 bln (USD 26 mln).

The investigation established that Verkhovskyi is close to the kremlin and is one of the largest financial ‘donors’ to the war against Ukraine.

The russian businessman’s fishing business enables him to regularly transfer billions of dollars to the russian budget.

The arrested trawler is a part of the oligarch’s commercial ‘fleet’.

Before the full-scale invasion, a shipyard in Mykolaiv was finishing building the russian trawler.

To circumvent the sanctions, the beneficial owner of the vessel registered it to a company under his control in Primorsky krai, russia.

However, the SSU exposed the scheme and blocked the vessel.

Bukhta Sokolovskaya is now under control of the National Agency of Ukraine for Detection, Tracing and Management of Assets Obtained from Corruption and Other Crimes (ARMA).

The SSU Office in Mykolaiv region carried out the investigation under the procedural supervision of the regional Prosecutor’s Office.