While everyone claims to want corruption eliminated, nothing is done even when it is staring them in the face. The case of Cyprus-registered Blue Ocean, the company that was managing Roman Abramovich’s fleet of super-yachts, is a stark example of how the politicians and state services allow the rich and powerful to break the law with impunity.

Blue Ocean’s lawyers were allowed to dissolve the company in July 2024, despite owing €14m in VAT to the tax authorities. The special treatment afforded to the company by the state authorities was recounted at the House audit committee which discussed the matter on Thursday. It could only be described as special treatment – or a politically-sanctioned cover-up – because there could not have been such consistent failure by the authorities in doing their job.

In fact, the tax authorities had done a commendable job in uncovering Blue Ocean’s scheme to avoid paying VAT for the use of the Abramovich super-yachts. In 2012, after a two-year investigation, they found that the company owed €14m in unpaid VAT for the period 2005 to 2010. Blue Ocean challenged this in court, but in 2018 the administrative court ruled that the company’s contention that it was not obliged to pay VAT was ‘baseless’. After the ruling nothing was done to collect the money, with the authorities inexplicably allowing the company to file an appeal without making any payment or at least signing some payment guarantee.

When the appeal was rejected, in March 2024, again no attempt was made to collect the money, and the company was dissolved in July, having not paid a cent. The company’s lawyers, according to the tax commissioner had claimed they had no contact with their client since 2022 as there were no directors listed for Blue Ocean! What was the role of the company’s lawyers in this affair? Had they not been notified about the directors stepping down? And who was paying the lawyers to represent the company?

The registrar told the committee she had tried to de-register Blue Ocean in 2022, but the tax commissioner objected, because of its tax debts. Yet despite the red flags no real attempt was made to collect the tax debts, nor does it appear that any pressure was put on the legal representatives of the company to give information about the whereabout of its directors They have all disappeared and, as the committee chairman was informed, even if the directors were found and charged the state might still not be able to collect any money as not assets were traceable.

There have been allegations that the cover-up was the work of a very senior politician, but it appears none of the deputies who were discussing the matter on Thursday had any interest in finding out why Abramovich’s firm was allowed to get away with paying its €14m tax debt. But we are supposed to believe that our politicians are committed to fighting corruption.