Browne says Gov’t will negotiate with Halle on Alfa Nero, but claims no negotiations took place before

At least one of the cases involving the disputed Alfa Nero superyacht
is expected to be heard next week, according to Prime Minister
Gaston Browne.

Among those making claim is the daughter of Andrey Guryev,
reportedly the vessel’s original owner.
 
Since bid-winner Eric Schmidt has withdrawn his offer – due to
mounting court challenges to the yacht’s ownership – Browne says
his Administration is hoping to negotiate with the second-highest
bidder, Warren Halle.
 
Browne says that negotiations will have to begin with Halle, whose
offer was US$66 million, or some other person who is interested in
the yacht.

He notes that the third bid was about US$25 million, which is well
below the value of the vessel, meaning that the Government would
experience a huge loss.

Meanwhile, Browne admits that interest in purchasing the vessel
had been expressed by a number of people even before the
legislation was amended, and that the Government had been
advanced US$10 million by one of these parties.
 
However, he denies that negotiations had taken place with any of
them before the Act was passed.
 
In the meantime, Browne has failed to provide a precise figure with
respect to Government’s expenditure, to date, for maintaining the
yacht.
 
The vessel remains docked in Falmouth Harbour and was recently
taken on a test run to assess its seaworthiness.