A Guide To The Private Jets And Helicopters Owned By Sanctioned Russian Billionaires

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 nine 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 seven 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 20 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.

Other aircraft are in a similar state of limbo, including a Dassault Falcon 7X linked to Alisher Usmanov that’s registered in Luxembourg. According to International Civil Aviation Organization records, the jet is owned by Cyprus-based Windfel Aviation Ltd, which shares several directors and its corporate address with other companies owned by Usmanov. A spokesperson for Luxembourg’s Directorate of Civil Aviation told Forbes on March 22 that the jet’s deregistration “has been initiated but has not yet been completed.”

On March 18, the U.S. Commerce Department identified Abramovich’s Gulfstream G650 jet—registered in Luxembourg and last seen in Moscow on March 15—as one of 100 aircraft that were in “apparent violation of U.S. export controls.” The press release explains that "any person anywhere—including within Russia—risks violating" the export controls by providing "any form of service" to the aircraft, meaning it’s effectively grounded.

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.

Eight of the 20 aircraft tracked by Forbes were last recorded in France, Latvia and Monaco, all 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 two 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 four of the 20 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: