“The public prosecutor’s office closed the proceedings by order dated 6 December 2023, with the costs of the proceedings, set at CHF 100,000, to be borne by Yves Bouvier.” In a statement issued on Thursday, the Geneva courts signalled the end of the legal proceedings between Geneva art dealer Yves Bouvier and Russian billionaire Dmitry Rybolovlev.

The dispute began in 2015, centring on 38 works of art sold--between 2003 and 2014--by Bouvier to Rybolovlev for a combined €2.3bn. The billionaire accused the art dealer of misleading him about the value of these works and the commissions due to him, which he estimated at €1bn. Bouvier denied any wrongdoing. Rybolovlev’s lawyers then filed complaints against Bouvier and other defendants in 2015 in Monaco, and in 2017 in Geneva, on charges of fraud by profession, money laundering and unfair management.

Two procedures to follow

The two sides reached an agreement on 20 November and withdrew all complaints except, say reporters at Heidi News, two: the proceedings between the auction house Sotheby’s and the Russian billionaire; and those between Bouvier and the Federal Tax Administration concerning a tax reassessment (for about CHF 330m or €349m).

Bouvier started the Luxembourg freeport in 2012 following an agreement signed by Lux-Airport, the government and his various companies. Its latest reports suggest major financial difficulties.

In 2016, Yves Bouvier  (in French) that these widely publicised affairs had cost him €1bn. Recently, Arshexa CEO Song Moon-seok indicated that he would be seeking advice from the developers of the Luxembourg freeport in order to build the world’s largest freeport, to be finished in 2026: 43,669 m2 near Incheon international airport.

This article in Paperjam. It has been translated and edited for Delano.