Blue Ocean, tied to a sham superyacht charter scheme, was struck off the registry without paying its €14 million tax debt. The Attorney General claims the Legal Service only handled legal appeals — responsibility for collection lies with the Tax Department.
Tomorrow the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Development Plans and Public Expenditure Control will resume discussions on the controversial case of Blue Ocean, a company owned by sanctioned billionaire Roman Abramovich, which was dissolved without paying its €14 million VAT debt.
The Cyprus-based company had established a fake luxury yacht chartering scheme in what appears to have been a blatant attempt at tax avoidance, according to an investigation conducted by OCCRP and its Cyprus partner, CIReN earlier this year.
During the Committee’s previous session, Tax Commissioner Sotiris Markides admitted that the company was now dissolved and no portion of the debt was paid. “The unpaid VAT related to the period 2005–2010 and could not be pursued by the Cypriot authorities after so many years, because Blue Ocean no longer had any directors,” Markides told CIReN.
Registrar of Companies Irini Mylonas confirmed to CIReN that “Blue Ocean Management Limited was definitively struck off the register on July 19, 2024.” According to a written statement by the Registrar obtained by CIReN, the strike-off process began in 2022, was suspended following an objection from the Tax Commissioner, but the objection was later withdrawn on June 17, 2024. As a result, the company was officially removed from the registry on July 19, 2024.
The revelations triggered strong reactions from members of the Committee, including MP Alexandra Attalides, who submitted the issue to Parliament after months of silence from Cypriot authorities regarding whether Blue Ocean had paid the VAT.
MPs requested to hear the position of the Attorney General and the Legal Service, but their representative was unable to provide any answers.
The session was postponed.
In the aftermath, Attorney General George Savvides issued a statement clarifying that “the only involvement the Legal Service had in this matter was the handling of the appeal and subsequent recourse filed against the VAT Commissioner. The outcome of both court proceedings was in favor of the Republic.” He concluded: “Beyond that, the responsibility for collecting the owed tax and the related procedures lies with the competent Tax Department.”
The issue remains open, drawing significant political and institutional attention.