Squatters leave Russian billionaire Arkady Volozh's Amsterdam villa

The squatters who spent a year and a half in the Amsterdam villa of Russian tech entrepreneur Arkady Volozh vacated the building on the Vondelpark on Monday morning. John Wolfs, Volozh's lawyer, confirmed the squatters left the building after an initial report was published in the Telegraaf.

The squatters handed over the keys at 9 a.m. and left. Volozh reacted happily to news that the squatters left, Wolfs said. "He is happy that it is over and that he can continue to focus on the property. He may move there again at some point."

The squatters had occupied the Vossiusstraat mansion since October 2022. They entered the property after it emerged the founder of the Yandex search engine was placed on a European Union sanctions list as part of a response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The search engine supposedly favored Russian State messaging, media outlets and businesses in their search results.

Volozh acquired the property in transactions recorded in 2018 and 2019 for 3.4 million euros, and the building remained vacant right up to when the EU placed their restrictions on him. The squatters accused Volozh of preparing to renovate the vacant home without approval from the Dutch government, which would be in violation of the sanctions. They also accused him of planning to break up and rent out the high-priced property amid an acute housing shortage. An initial court ruling said the squatters could stay.

Volozh also lost when he brought the case before the Amsterdam Court of Appeals which said the squatters could stay as long as the billionaire's assets were frozen and the squatters behaved themselves. Volozh, who has primarily resided in Israel for ten years, has since left Yandex. He has also spoken out against the war in Ukraine.

The situation looked like it was on the verge of changing when Volozh was taken off the sanctions list two weeks ago. “The consequence is that he can reclaim the house, and the squatters have to leave,” the squatters' attorney said at the time.

On Monday, Volozh's attorney said the departure of the squatters also eliminates the threat of summary proceedings to force them out of the building. Wolfs could not describe the condition of the building after the billionaire regained possession.

"It was discussed in the appeal that the building has been considerably damaged," he said, adding that neighbors were concerned about the collection of rubbish there. "But I have not yet had any contact about what it looks like on the inside."