US demands confiscation of Putin’s private plane

A private plane said to belong to a close associate of Russian President Putin is being monitored by the United States. Germany should confiscate the machine, and demand the United States.

The US government is urging the German government to seize a private plane stationed in Berlin by Putin’s close friend Yevgeny Prigozhin. This was reported by the weekly “Die Zeit”. Accordingly, at the end of last year, at the end of last year, US diplomats submitted a file containing details of an aircraft to the Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Federal Ministry of Economy, which is attributed to Prigogine.

It is a Hawker 800 XP machine that has been put into service at Berlin Brandenburg Airport since the end of October 2020. According to the file, the machine in San Marino is registered with a company called Club Group. According to Zeit, it should be a front company.

Yevgeny Prigozhin: his private plane is about to be confiscated. (Source: ITAR-TASS Images / imago)

‘Unscrupulous German authorities’

Prigozhin, who was indicted in absentia by US special mediator Robert Mueller in 2018, is on several US and EU sanctions lists. Since then, he is no longer allowed to own any assets in the European Union.

According to the report, the federal government has so far rejected forfeiture under the Penal Code citing the lack of transparency of aircraft ownership. There are special reservations in the Federal Ministry of Economy. As a compromise, the ministries in charge of the process agreed to first initiate a customs procedure. As long as this is turned on, Prigozhin will not be able to use the device.

When Prigozhin was asked, he told the newspaper that “unscrupulous German authorities” apparently wanted to steal the plane from its owner and attribute it to him, Prigozhin. He felt sorry for the actual owner. Therefore, Putin’s close friend left who owns the machine open.