Italian taxpayers are spending millions of dollars maintaining Russian superyachts immobilised by sanctions, with Trieste’s mayor putting the annual bill for Sailing Yacht A alone at nearly $11 million.

The dispute exposes a practical cost of freezing assets: Italian law requires sequestered ships to be maintained rather than allowed to deteriorate. Owners cannot use them, but the state must preserve them while sanctions remain.

The 468-foot Sailing Yacht A, valued at about $600 million and designed by Philippe Starck, was undergoing maintenance in Trieste when Russia invaded Ukraine in March 2022. It has remained there for more than four years.

Mayor Roberto Dipiazza, who launched a public campaign in September 2025, says its upkeep costs about $30,000 daily. That covers a 20-person crew, generator fuel, specialist cleaning, security and insurance. He has threatened to sell or remove it and argues that taxpayers should not finance oligarchs’ yachts indefinitely.

Russian banker and industrialist Andrey Melnichenko challenged the seizure in summer 2022, arguing that the vessel belonged not directly to him but to Valla Sails through a trust established by his wife. After proceedings in Rome, the case reached the Court of Justice of the European Union, which ruled in 2025 that Italy could retain it, with the accompanying maintenance obligation.

Melnichenko would have to reimburse those costs to recover the yacht if sanctions were lifted. Dipiazza questions whether repayment will remain economically attractive as the bill grows.

At Marina di Carrara, the 465-foot, six-deck Scheherazade, valued at $700 million, presents further uncertainty. It is reportedly licensed to Rosneft executive Eduard Khudainatov; Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny alleged that its real owner was Vladimir Putin. That ownership claim is not established here.

Local reporting puts taxpayers’ spending on its skeleton crew above $15 million. Tax records show mooring charges were paid through September, but dock operator Italian Sea Group has not disclosed who paid or who now pays. It said a ten-hour voyage on 28 August, escorted by Italian security forces, involved maintenance tests.

Lady M, owned by Putin associate Alexei Mordashov, has cost taxpayers about $2 million, according to Imperia port deputy director Matteo Bonjean. Gennady Timchenko’s Lena is also maintained nearby.

Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni supports retaining sanctions and warned the Senate in October against softening policy towards Moscow. The dispute over upkeep remains distinct from that policy choice. Some jurisdictions have sold seized yachts; Montenegro’s attempted €135 million sale of Luminosity was blocked in 2024, and the vessel has deteriorated. For Italy, eventual reimbursement remains conditional on owners reclaiming their vessels.