Ukraine sold the arrested tanker that Russia used to block the Kerch Strait in 2018

The Asset Tracking and Management Agency (ARMA) on Monday, April 21, held a successful auction for the sale of the Russian tanker Nika Spirit (previous name Neyma), detained in Izmail back in 2019. This was announced by the head of the agency, Olena Duma, writes liga.net.

Illustrative photo

The Prozorro.Sales website reports that four participants competed for the vessel, and the winner was Kremenchug-based Alfa Group 77 LLC (owner — Vitaly Marchenko) with a bid of UAH 6,43 million.

"Despite the fact that, according to the report of an independent appraiser, the ship was 80% worn out, and its restoration would require at least 20 million hryvnias in investment, ARMA secured its sale for almost three times the estimated value [2,4 million hryvnias]," Duma commented on the auction results.

ARMA currently has 16 seized vessels under its management. The agency insists that such assets should be transferred for sale, not for management.

The vessel Nika Spirit (IMO number: 8895528) is a tanker for transporting oil products built in 1989. It was previously called Neyma and sailed under the Russian flag.

The ship was seized, according to a court order dated July 29, 2019, after it entered Izmail for repairs.

The resolution reported that the Russians used this vessel to block the passage of Ukrainian warships through the Kerch Strait in November 2018. Then the clash ended with the use of weapons by the Russian side and the capture of 24 Ukrainian sailors.

Since 2019, the ship has remained docked in Izmail.

Its owner was Altomar Shipping LLC from the Krasnodar Territory.

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