What happened
The world's largest yacht show Monaco Yacht Show, in which boats of Russian billionaires, such as Vladimir Potanin and Dmitry Rybolovlev, have repeatedly participated, will not take place this year due to the coronavirus. This is with reference to the British agency for organizing and holding events Informa Markets reports the industry publication Superyacht News.
The decision came after the Superyacht Builders Association (SYBAss) and the Leading Yacht Brokers Association (LYBRA) announced that they would not be participating in the show this year, he said. Representatives of these associations in their letters expressed doubts both about the organizers' ability to ensure safety at the show during a pandemic, and in general about the appropriateness of such an event, “which, in fact, is a celebration of extraordinary wealth, at a time when the whole world is fighting with negative humanitarian and economic consequences of the epidemic ”.
As a result, the organizers decided to postpone the Monaco Yacht Show to 2021. The event traditionally takes place in Monaco in September.
Russian billionaires at the Monaco Yacht Show
Previously, in different years, boats of the richest people in Russia took part in the Monaco Yacht Show. Thus, the Russian-language editors of Forbes displayed their yachts at the event by Vladimir Potanin (the publication estimates his fortune at $ 19.7 billion; since February, according to the magazine, he is the richest Russian), Dmitry Pumpyansky (his capital, according to Forbes, is $ 1.8 billion), Dmitry Rybolovlev ($ 6.6 billion), Igor Makarov ($ 2.1 billion) and other richest Russian businessmen.
The cost of participation in the show, according to Dmitry Semenikhin, founder of the specialized publication about yachting Yacht Harbor, varies from € 50,000 to € 500,000. Shipyards pay more, service companies pay less, explained the Forbes expert. Due to the cancellation of the event this year, in his opinion, the participants will not suffer much: most likely, those who have already made an advance payment for the exhibition stand and parking in the port will be offered to set it off against participation in the show in 2021, Semenikhin believes.
Who exactly was going to take part in the Monaco Yacht Show this year and whether there were Russians among the participants is unknown.
note
Last year, according to the Monaco Tribune, 125 yacht owners took part in the Monaco Yacht Show, the total value of their boats exceeded $ 4.29 billion. The organizers then estimated the economic effect of the event at $ 2 billion.