After two years, Mazepin’s fertilizer ship may leave the Gulf of Riga

Dmitry Mazepin’s cargoes allowed the Latvian oligarchs to make good money, and now Russian President Vladimir Putin says that the Baltics are blocking fertilizers so that the world will starve.

The 200-meter-long cargo ship “Asian Majesty” has been anchored in the Gulf of Riga since March 2022 due to its cargo – almost 55,000 tons of fertilizers worth about $17 million, belonging to the sanctioned Mazepin. He is part of Putin’s inner circle, and Forbes magazine last year estimated his fortune at about $2.8 billion.

According to information available to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the ship “Asian Majesty” will be freed within the next month, and the UN has helped in solving the problem, which called on Latvia to support the solution proposed by the Mazepin-owned fertilizer company Uralchem ​​- to donate fertilizers to developing countries in Africa. South Asia and South America without any remuneration.

Latvia consulted with the European Commission, which stated that if there is evidence that the cargo is truly donated, it can not be considered sanctioned.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs does not have data on how much damage the shipowner will suffer as a result of a two-year shutdown in the Gulf of Riga, but port experts estimate these costs at several million euros.

At the end of 2022, the owner of the ship, the Taiwanese company U Ming Marine Transport, filed a lawsuit against the Latvian customs service and the Freeport of Riga, demanding that the decision to prohibit the ship from leaving Latvia with cargo be declared illegal. It has not yet been determined whether the company can claim damages from Latvia, but the Ministry of Foreign Affairs believes that the shipowner is likely to direct its claims against Mazepin as a cargo owner who had the opportunity to release the ship, but chose to ignore possible decisions.