A Russian oligarch's claim for $115 million in damages against his former wife, after a superyacht was impounded in Dubai as part of a costly divorce battle, has been dismissed by the emirate's highest court.
The 115-metre MV Luna has been held in Dubai since February 2018 while lawyers for oil and gas tycoon Farkhad Akhmedov fought a UK court order that transferred it to his former wife, Tatiana Akhmedova.
Mr Akhmedov and Straight Establishment - the current registered owner of the $450m vessel - initially brought the case against Ms Akhmedova in January 2020.
The Dubai Court of Cassation rejected claims the arrest had been unlawful and that there was no grounds for further claims for alleged damages.
Mr Akhmedov had hoped to recover "loss of opportunity and moral damages" on the basis that MV Luna could have been chartered out for the duration of its arrest.
The claim for lost hire fees ran contrary to Straight Establishment’s previous declarations that the vessel was not a commercial yacht and could not be used for financial gain, said Ms Akhmedova's legal team.
“This is the latest in a string of vexatious claims by Mr Akhmedov that have been thrown out by courts in Dubai,” said Alessandro Tricoli of Fichte & Co, representing Ms Akhmedova.
"The decision in Dubai is a major blow to Mr Akhmedov's attempts to evade the UK court judgment against him, and his efforts to reclaim the Luna from Ms Akhmedova appear increasingly bleak."
New York-based financiers, Burford Capital, provided Ms Akhmedova with funding for her legal case in exchange for a share of up to 30 per cent of any recovery from the $586m divorce case.
The Dubai court ordered Mr Akhmedov to pay expenses and costs to Ms Akhmedova.
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The court decision is binding and cannot be subject to further appeal.
The future of the yacht, however, remains uncertain after years of legal deadlock.
A spokesman for Mr Akhmedov told The National the decision was "irrelevant" as a previous ruling had ensured his ex-wife could not remove the luxury vessel from Dubai.
"These damages claims were filed by Mr Akhmedov and the trust which owns the yacht as a back-up to the main legal action in Dubai," the spokesman said.
"This was to prevent Tatiana and her backers, Burford Capital, taking ownership of Luna. This action was successfully concluded in August when the Court of Cassation ruled in favour of Mr Akhmedov, thus ensuring the yacht could never be seized from Dubai by his ex-wife.
"At that point the damages claim became irrelevant. Burford and Tatiana have not gained a penny from the rejection of damages claims. It is a pyrrhic victory."
The yacht remains moored in Port Rashid, subject to injunctions obtained in the Marshall Islands and England by Ms Akhmedova, which prevent the transfer of ownership of the vessel or its removal from Dubai.
Proceedings to determine the rightful ownership of the yacht are ongoing in the Marshall Islands.
The yacht, which has 50 crew and two helipads, was impounded in Dubai and put into dry dock more than two years ago for the duration of the ongoing litigation after London’s High Court ordered Mr Akhmedov to pay 40 per cent of his $1.4 billion fortune to her.
UAE squad
Humaira Tasneem (c), Chamani Senevirathne (vc), Subha Srinivasan, NIsha Ali, Udeni Kuruppuarachchi, Chaya Mughal, Roopa Nagraj, Esha Oza, Ishani Senevirathne, Heena Hotchandani, Keveesha Kumari, Judith Cleetus, Chavi Bhatt, Namita D’Souza.
BANGLADESH SQUAD
Mashrafe Mortaza (captain), Tamim Iqbal, Liton Das, Soumya Sarkar, Mushfiqur Rahim (wicketkeeper), Mahmudullah, Shakib Al Hasan (vice captain), Mohammad Mithun, Sabbir Rahaman, Mosaddek Hossain, Mohammad Saifuddin, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Rubel Hossain, Mustafizur Rahman, Abu Jayed (Reporting by Rohith Nair in Bengaluru Editing by Amlan Chakraborty)
Dubai Bling season three
Cast: Loujain Adada, Zeina Khoury, Farhana Bodi, Ebraheem Al Samadi, Mona Kattan, and couples Safa & Fahad Siddiqui and DJ Bliss & Danya Mohammed
Rating: 1/5
AUSTRALIA SQUAD
Aaron Finch (captain), Ashton Agar, Alex Carey, Pat Cummins, Glenn Maxwell, Ben McDermott, Kane Richardson, Steve Smith, Billy Stanlake, Mitchell Starc, Ashton Turner, Andrew Tye, David Warner, Adam Zampa
How to apply for a drone permit
- Individuals must register on UAE Drone app or website using their UAE Pass
- Add all their personal details, including name, nationality, passport number, Emiratis ID, email and phone number
- Upload the training certificate from a centre accredited by the GCAA
- Submit their request
What are the regulations?
- Fly it within visual line of sight
- Never over populated areas
- Ensure maximum flying height of 400 feet (122 metres) above ground level is not crossed
- Users must avoid flying over restricted areas listed on the UAE Drone app
- Only fly the drone during the day, and never at night
- Should have a live feed of the drone flight
- Drones must weigh 5 kg or less
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
How will Gen Alpha invest?
Mark Chahwan, co-founder and chief executive of robo-advisory firm Sarwa, forecasts that Generation Alpha (born between 2010 and 2024) will start investing in their teenage years and therefore benefit from compound interest.
“Technology and education should be the main drivers to make this happen, whether it’s investing in a few clicks or their schools/parents stepping up their personal finance education skills,” he adds.
Mr Chahwan says younger generations have a higher capacity to take on risk, but for some their appetite can be more cautious because they are investing for the first time. “Schools still do not teach personal finance and stock market investing, so a lot of the learning journey can feel daunting and intimidating,” he says.
He advises millennials to not always start with an aggressive portfolio even if they can afford to take risks. “We always advise to work your way up to your risk capacity, that way you experience volatility and get used to it. Given the higher risk capacity for the younger generations, stocks are a favourite,” says Mr Chahwan.
Highlighting the role technology has played in encouraging millennials and Gen Z to invest, he says: “They were often excluded, but with lower account minimums ... a customer with $1,000 [Dh3,672] in their account has their money working for them just as hard as the portfolio of a high get-worth individual.”
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Tax authority targets shisha levy evasion
The Federal Tax Authority will track shisha imports with electronic markers to protect customers and ensure levies have been paid.
Khalid Ali Al Bustani, director of the tax authority, on Sunday said the move is to "prevent tax evasion and support the authority’s tax collection efforts".
The scheme’s first phase, which came into effect on 1st January, 2019, covers all types of imported and domestically produced and distributed cigarettes. As of May 1, importing any type of cigarettes without the digital marks will be prohibited.
He said the latest phase will see imported and locally produced shisha tobacco tracked by the final quarter of this year.
"The FTA also maintains ongoing communication with concerned companies, to help them adapt their systems to meet our requirements and coordinate between all parties involved," he said.
As with cigarettes, shisha was hit with a 100 per cent tax in October 2017, though manufacturers and cafes absorbed some of the costs to prevent prices doubling.
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
Tonight's Chat on The National
Tonight's Chat is a series of online conversations on The National. The series features a diverse range of celebrities, politicians and business leaders from around the Arab world.
Tonight’s Chat host Ricardo Karam is a renowned author and broadcaster with a decades-long career in TV. He has previously interviewed Bill Gates, Carlos Ghosn, Andre Agassi and the late Zaha Hadid, among others. Karam is also the founder of Takreem.
Intellectually curious and thought-provoking, Tonight’s Chat moves the conversation forward.
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