As part of the sanctions case, the US government intends to confiscate two planes, this time owned not by Russian airlines but by Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich. However, the American side will have to work, as both airliners flew from Istanbul and Dubai to Moscow.
According to Turkish media reports, because the aircraft were of American origin, a special license was required for flights to Russia, but no applications were received. According to the Ministry of Trade, after the imposition of sanctions on Russia on February 24, the Gulfstream plane took off from Istanbul to Moscow on March 12. The Boeing 787 Dreamliner flew from Dubai to Russia on March 4.
Following a court ruling, US authorities will be able to confiscate 787-8 Dreamliner and Gulfstream G50ER aircraft belonging to the Russian billionaire. However, it was noted that one of the planes is in Russia and the other in the United Arab Emirates, so it will be very difficult to confiscate each of the airliners.
Reference: Roman Abramovich – Russian and British businessman, billionaire, and statesman. According to Forbes magazine, Abramovich’s fortune was $ 14.5 billion in 2021. In the ranking of the richest businessmen in Russia, he ranked 12th, in a similar ranking of the richest people in Britain in 2019 – 9th place. On March 10, 2022, in connection with the beginning of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine came under British sanctions, and from March 15 – under the sanctions of the European Union. It is also under sanctions from Canada, Australia, and Switzerland. Late last month, Abramovich also filed a lawsuit against sanctions imposed on him by the European Union.