The Royal Romance auction has broken down before it even began, as negotiations for the listing have collapsed. Troostwijk Auctions had been named as the body to oversee the sale of sanctioned Ukrainian Viktor Medvedchuk’s yacht, Royal Romance by Ukraine’s Asset Recovery and Management Agency (ARMA).

Following the initial approval on 23 April, after a competitive selection process, the Netherlands-based auction house had a period of five working days to present a proposal to ARMA to conclude the agreement, a draft of which had to be supplied to the National Agency. This has not come to fruition, however.

“I regret to inform you that at the end of April, ARMA selected Trostwijk Auctions to handle the auction of the superyacht, the Royal Romance. Subsequently, there have been intensive discussions with ARMA and advisors. However, negotiations to finalise an agreement for the auction within the given deadline did not materialise,” a source with knowledge of the situation tells SuperyachtNews.

The Dutch auction house was selected in favour of two other applicants: US-based Asset Reality Limited and Boathouse Auctions. The former was not admitted to the competitive selection process on the grounds that the company did not comply with the Ukrainian Government's Resolution, the submission of an incomplete package of documents and a violation of the established requirements.

During the competitive selection, as requested by the National Agency, applicants had to provide the Commission overseeing the selection process with a letter clarifying they were not involved in the Russian Federation, Belarus, Medvedchuk or any persons associated with him. Troostwijk Auctions was then approved for the role after extensive evaluation from the commission.

With the future of Royal Romance now facing greater uncertainty than before, SuperyachtNews will be following the case closely.

In a recent article, we spoke with industry law experts Rachel Cropper-Mawer, partner at Clyde & Co., and Daniel Martin, partner at HFW, to dissect the situation. We discuss the echoes of other sanctioned vessels, the likelihood of the plan coming to fruition and the litigious fallout that can be expected in the coming years.

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