The aircraft are registered in offshore jurisdictions like the Isle of Man and Bermuda that are attempting to make it harder for the oligarchs to keep flying.
More than three weeks into Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Western countries are tightening sanctions on Russian oligarchs and billionaires. The latest salvo came on Wednesday, when the British crown dependency of the Isle of Man announced that it had deregistered 18 Russian aircraft since March 3. Forbes found that eight of those aircraft—including Alisher Usmanov’s $350 million Airbus private jet and four helicopters owned by Roman Abramovich—are owned by sanctioned Russian billionaires.
By scouring aircraft registries and publicly available data, Forbes identified at least 12 jets and six helicopters linked to eight sanctioned Russian billionaires. The aircraft are registered in Aruba, Bermuda, the Cayman Islands, the Isle of Man and Luxembourg, all of which have implemented EU or U.K. sanctions. Collectively, the 18 aircraft are worth at least $1.2 billion. Spokespersons for the aircraft registries and authorities in Bermuda, Luxembourg and the Isle of Man told Forbes that they are taking action against aircraft owned by sanctioned individuals.
On March 12, Bermuda announced that its aircraft registry had suspended certificates of airworthiness for 740 “Russian operated aircraft,” meaning they can no longer fly. At least one sanctioned billionaire, Viktor Rashnikov, owns a Gulfstream jet registered in Bermuda. A spokesperson for the Bermuda Civil Aviation Authority told Forbes that the authority “will conduct an investigation” to determine if Rashnikov owns the aircraft.
Abramovich is the most exposed to the new measures, with two jets registered in Aruba and another two in Luxembourg, in addition to the four helicopters deregistered in the Isle of Man. Aruba’s Minister of Transport, Ursell Arends, reportedly told local media that at least 10 aircraft registered in Aruba belong to sanctioned Russians and the government will take action against them “if necessary.” Forbes identified six of the 10, including an Airbus A319 jet owned by Viktor Vekselberg. A spokesperson for Vekselberg declined to comment, and representatives for the other billionaires mentioned in this article did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
High-net-worth individuals often own aircraft through offshore holding companies to mask their ownership. “Many owners use offshore entities and special purpose companies to make it difficult to find the “real” user of the aircraft,” said Phil Seymour, president of aviation data firm IBA.
Other sanctioned billionaires have had private jets in the recent past or have been reported to own jets, but Forbes could not verify that they still own them. Oleg Deripaska, Gennady Timchenko, Boris Rotenberg and Suleiman Kerimov were all reported to have sold their planes after being hit with sanctions back in 2014 and 2018.
Registering aircraft in offshore jurisdictions such as the Isle of Man allows billionaires to save hundreds of millions of dollars in customs and sales taxes when flying, buying or ultimately selling their jets. The websites for offshore aircraft registries openly tout a variety of benefits, ranging from zero taxes on import duties or transfers of aircraft in Aruba to no taxation at all in the Cayman Islands.
The measures taken by authorities in the Isle of Man and Bermuda are now putting those benefits out of reach. According to Jonathan Epstein, a partner at Washington, D.C.-based law firm Holland & Knight who specializes in international trade and aviation, an aircraft that has been deregistered becomes a “stateless aircraft,” meaning it no longer has a valid certificate of airworthiness. Without that, it’s not insurable and cannot fly, until it’s registered in a new country.
That means any aircraft located in countries that have sanctioned Russia are at risk of being grounded. Complicating matters further is the fact that the comprehensive sanctions bar any insurers and banks from financing or providing insurance to aircraft owned or used by Russian entities.
Seven of the 18 aircraft tracked by Forbes were last recorded in France and Latvia, both of which have implemented the EU sanctions on Russia. But if they aren’t in the EU or the U.K., then the aircraft could re-register elsewhere—including in Russia, where four of the aircraft were last seen. “If they're physically in Russia, it may be that the Russians are going to re-register them,” said Epstein.
Another likely destination for these planes: the United Arab Emirates. At least three of the 18 aircraft tracked by Forbes were last seen in the U.A.E., and several more recently traveled from there to Moscow. Still, even if a plane is in Dubai, the owners could be hit by secondary U.S. sanctions on local companies that assist in moving or repairing their jets. "If you have a Gulfstream sitting in Dubai, the export of that aircraft to Russia is a violation of U.S. export laws," said Epstein. "It's also an export violation for the repair facility that's helping them do that."
Another reason why repairing planes will now be more complicated: Manufacturers including Airbus, Boeing, Bombardier and Embraer have announced they will suspend business with Russian companies and individuals, making it difficult—if not impossible—for Russian owners to replace parts and keep their planes flying.
Here are the jets and helicopters owned by sanctioned Russian billionaires tracked by Forbes and their latest locations:
Roman Abramovich
Sanctioned by: U.K., EU, Canada, Australia
Citizenship: Russia, Israel, Portugal
Total estimated value: $545 million
BOEING 767-300 (tail number P4-MES)
Registered in: Aruba
Last recorded location: Saint-Louis, France on February 25
BOEING 787-8 DREAMLINER (tail number P4-BDL)
Registered in: Aruba
Last recorded location: Dubai, United Arab Emirates on March 4
BOMBARDIER BD700 GLOBAL EXPRESS (tail number LX-LUX)
Registered in: Luxembourg
Last recorded location: Riga, Latvia on February 27
GULFSTREAM G650 (tail number LX-RAY)
Registered in: Luxembourg
Last recorded location: Moscow, Russia on March 15
AIRBUS EC-145 HELICOPTER (tail number M-SOLO)
Registered in: Isle of Man (Deregistered on March 11)
Last recorded location: Cannes, France on February 25
Associated with Abramovich’s yacht Solaris
AIRBUS EC-145 HELICOPTER (tail number M-SOLA)
Registered in: Isle of Man (Deregistered on March 11)
Last recorded location: Basseterre, St. Kitts and Nevis on February 28
Associated with Abramovich’s yacht Solaris
AIRBUS EC-145 HELICOPTER (tail number M-LUNA)
Registered in: Isle of Man (Deregistered on March 11)
Last recorded location: Cannes, France on February 3
EUROCOPTER EC-155 HELICOPTER (tail number M-HELI)
Registered in: Isle of Man (Deregistered on March 11)
Last recorded location: Cannes, France on March 4
Mikhail Gutseriev
Sanctioned by: EU, U.K., Switzerland
Citizenship: Russia
Total estimated value: $60 million
EMBRAER ERJ-135 (tail number P4-MSG)
Registered in: Aruba
Last recorded location: Moscow, Russia on March 14
BOMBARDIER BD700 GLOBAL EXPRESS (tail number P4-GMS)
Registered in: Aruba
Last recorded location: Moscow, Russia on February 26
Alexey Mordashov
Sanctioned by: EU, U.K., Switzerland, Australia
Citizenship: Russia
Total estimated value: $20 million
BOMBARDIER BD700 GLOBAL EXPRESS (tail number M-YSSF)
Registered in: Isle of Man (Deregistered on March 4)
Last recorded location: Moscow, Russia on March 5
AGUSTAWESTLAND AW139 helicopter (tail number VP-CMF)
Registered in: Cayman Islands
Last recorded location: Mahé, Seychelles on March 9
Associated with Mordashov’s yacht Nord
Viktor Rashnikov
Sanctioned by: EU
Citizenship: Russia
Total estimated value: $50 million
GULFSTREAM G650ER (tail number VP-BOT)
Registered in: Bermuda
Last recorded location: Dubai, United Arab Emirates on February 27
Arkady Rotenberg
Sanctioned by: EU, U.K., U.S., Australia, Canada, Japan, Switzerland
Citizenship: Russia
Total estimated value: $15 million
BOMBARDIER BD700 Global Express (tail number M-MAVP)
Registered in: Isle of Man (Deregistered on March 5)
Last recorded location: Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates on March 12
Andrei Skoch
Sanctioned by: EU, U.K., U.S., Australia, Canada, Switzerland
Citizenship: Russia
Total estimated value: $40 million
AIRBUS A319 (tail number P4-MGU)
Registered in: Aruba
Last recorded location: Near Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan on March 6
Alisher Usmanov
Sanctioned by: EU, U.K., U.S., Australia, Canada, Japan, Switzerland
Citizenship: Russia, Uzbekistan
Total estimated value: $370 million
AIRBUS A340-300 (tail number M-IABU)
Registered in: Isle of Man (Deregistered on March 3)
Last recorded Location: Tashkent, Uzbekistan on February 28
Blocked by the U.S. Treasury Department on March 3
AIRBUS EC-175 HELICOPTER (tail number M-DLBR)
Registered in: Isle of Man (Deregistered on March 3)
Last recorded location: Le Castellet, France on November 13, 2021
Associated with Usmanov’s yacht Dilbar
Viktor Vekselberg
Sanctioned by: U.S., U.K., Japan
Citizenship: Russia
Total estimated value: $90 million
AIRBUS A319-115 (tail number P4-MIS)
Registered in: Aruba
Last recorded location: Saint-Louis, France on February 25
Blocked by the U.S. Treasury Department on March 11
