Says U.S. Trade Policies Prevent Him From Using The Aircraft

A Russian billionaire closely associated with Russian President Vladimir Putin has sold his Gulfstream G650 business jet, citing problems getting spare parts for the aircraft.

Gennady Timchenko made his fortune in oil trading, according to a report from Reuters. He bought the G650 in 2013, according to aircraft registration records. The aircraft normally lists for about $60 million.

Timchenko was put on a sanctions list by the U.S. government following Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014. Timchenko said in an interview that year that Gulfstream had annulled its service contract on the plane. He told the Russian state news agency TASS that he could not use the airplane "because the company won’t supply it with spare parts, and the pilots don’t have the right to use the navigation, the built-in maps.”

Timchenko twice switched the registration of the aircraft to different countries and changed the registration number, but the jet can be identified through the manufacturer's serial number.  

The new owner is Cyprus-registered Amerivo Holdings Limited. It is now registered in Luxembourg. That company is 100 percent owned by the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF).

(Image from file)

FMI: Original report