Nicosia: By court order, Roman Abramovich’s company Blue Ocean Yacht Management Ltd was re-registered on Friday in the Cyprus Business Entities Registry. The company, which had outstanding tax debts to the Republic of Cyprus, had been struck off last year. As the Tax Commissioner, Sotiris Markides, told CNA, the Tax Department is preparing to initiate criminal proceedings against those responsible in order to recover the debt.
According to Cyprus News Agency, the total amount owed is approximately £14 million, which, including interest, rises to £25 million. The company was originally incorporated on 11/11/2002 under the name Blue Ocean Yacht Management Ltd. On 27/07/2011, it changed its name to BOYM – Blue Ocean Yacht Management Ltd.
The Registrar of Companies, Irini Mylona Chrysostomou, stated that on 26/08/2022 her office issued the first three-month notice of intent to strike off the company in the Gazette, as the company was non-compliant with the relevant legislation due to the absence of directors. The Tax Department filed an objection on 21/10/2022 to prevent the company from being struck off. A second three-month notice was published on 15/09/2023, and again the Tax Department filed an objection on 27/11/2023. However, on 17/07/2024, the Tax Department withdrew its objection, leading to the company being struck off on 19/07/2024.
After the issue was raised in the House of Representatives, the Tax Department, as a creditor, submitted a request for a court order to re-register the company. The court order was issued on 16/06/2025 and submitted to the Registrar of Companies on Friday 20/06/2025. The company was thus re-registered (with effect from the date of the court order, 16/06/2025), and it is considered as if it had never been struck off.
Chrysostomou explained that, under the law, a company that is struck off the register and re-registered by court order ‘is considered as never having been struck off – it comes back exactly as it was’. She added that the company still has no directors.
On his part, Tax Commissioner Sotiris Markides told CNA that the Tax Department is legally entitled to prosecute the directors for a criminal offence because they failed to ensure the relevant VAT was paid. He clarified that the criminal charges will apply to the directors listed during the period the debt was incurred – that is, in 2012 and earlier.
Markides noted, ‘We reinstated the company and we will prosecute whoever we are legally allowed to for criminal offences. Our legal team is working on it. There will be no exceptions.’ Asked when the prosecutions are expected, he said the matter is procedural and expressed hope that the process would begin before the courts’ summer recess.