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Authorities across the world continue to seize properties of Russian oligarchs following the invasion of Ukraine, and the Mazepin family is the latest to face those consequences.
A property owned by former Formula One driver Nikita Mazepin and his father, Dmitry, which is worth approximately $114.32 million, was seized, the Italian financial police confirmed in a statement to CNN.
Nikita and his father, Dmitry, were added to the European Union sanction list just a few days after the contract with the driver and title sponsor Uralkali, the company his father owns, was terminated by Haas F1. The EU cited Dmitry’s meeting with president Vladimir Putin on Feb. 24—the day Russia invaded Ukraine—as why they are added to the list, saying it's evidence that he is “supporting or implementing actions or policies” which threaten Ukraine.
As for Nikita, it’s because he is “a natural person associated with a leading businessperson [his father] involved in economic sectors providing a substantial source of revenue to the Government of the Russian Federation.”
The statement from the Italian financial police read: “A real estate asset worth approximately 105 million euro has been frozen because the property is attributable to the Russian billionaire Dmitry Arkadievich Mazepin and his son Nikita Dmitrievich Mazepin, until March 5 a Formula 1 driver of the Haas F1 Team.
“The property is a residential compound in Portisco, Sardinia.”
The estate is linked to the family through a “foreign company,” the statement added. According to Reuters, the villa is known as Rocky Ram. The outlet also noted that in recent weeks, Italy has seized more than 900 million euros worth of villas and yachts owned by E.U.-sanctioned Russians.
In a recent interview with BBC HARDtalk, Nikita did not hold back on his thoughts about the sanctions and bans against Russian athletes, calling them “cancel culture against my country.”
“I don’t agree with being in the sanctions,” the Russian driver said. “I’ve said previously that I intend to fight it.
“Perhaps now is not the right time because if you look at the whole situation that's happening against athletes in the general case, it’s cancel culture against my country.”
