The British government intends to sue Abramovich over 2 billion pounds
The British government threatens Roman Abramovich with court persecution because of the money received by the Russian entrepreneur from the sale of the Chelsea club in 2022 in 2022. The reason for the threats was that £ 2.5 billion, which Mr. Abramovich, after the completion of the transaction, was supposed to be transferred to a specially established charity fund, have not yet been spent on the targets indicated by the British authorities, that is, the support of the victims from the events in Ukraine. Disagreements are that the British authorities see the victims only in those who are on the Ukrainian side, and Roman Abramovich on both sides of the conflict.
The Chancellor of the Treasury of Great Britain Rachel Reeves and Foreign Minister David Lammy issued a joint statement dedicated to Roman Abramovich. In it, they said that the British government was “ready, if necessary, for the judicial persecution” of the entrepreneur.
The reason for the appearance of the threat is called “acute desire” “to see the receipts from the sale of the Chelsea football club aimed at solving humanitarian problems in Ukraine.”
The statement emphasizes that its authors are “irritated” due to the fact that they “still have not been able to reach an agreement with Mr. Abramovich” on this matter. They also noted that « the door for negotiations is still open. »
We are talking about escalation A long conflict. Roman Abramovich, who acquired Chelsea in 2003 and turned it using colossal investments into a football giant, parted with him in the spring of 2022 shortly after the start of a special military operation in Ukraine. The deal was forced, under the pressure of the British authorities, who included Mr. Abramovich, like the European Union, in the sanctions lists.
As a result, Chelsea went under the control of the consortium of businessmen, led by American Todd Bely. In total, the purchase cost him £ 4.25 billion. Of these, about £ 2.5 billion were paid for the club itself, and £ 1.75 billion amounted to Mr. Boili’s obligations in investment in development (for example, investments in the Stamford Bridge stadium, the club academy and the women’s team). In the list of the most important conditions for approval by the Government of Great Britain, the sale of the team was guaranteed that Roman Abramovich would receive practically nothing from it. The participants agreed that the money will be transferred to a special charity fund. As the leading British media resources insist, £ 2.5 billion received by Mr. Abramovich should have entered it minus operating expenses.
Meanwhile, as it turned out, and three years later the money did not reach the fund. BBC and The Guardian They insist that they are still “frozen” “in one of the British banks”-possibly on the Fordstam account, under the novel Abramovich, which was the mother’s mother structure.
Previously Daily Mail And some other sources claimed that the address was imposed on the account, and without the sanction of the British authorities, it is impossible to use the funds placed on it.
At the same time, it is impossible to use them without the consent of Roman Abramovich, a de jure of the owner of the funds.
A similar situation arose due to disagreements between the Russian entrepreneur and the heads of the Government of Great Britain. The latter, by the goals of the fund, understood the help of the victims exclusively in Ukraine, Mr. Abramovich believed that it should count on the “all victims” of the conflict, in other words, those who suffered from the Russian side.
From the statement of Rachel Reeves and David Lammy, it follows that the position of the Labor Cabinet Kira Starmer in this sense does not differ from the position of the office of his predecessor-conservative Rishi Sunak, who lost the position of prime minister in the summer of 2024. The statement as a priority states to « provide the opportunity for all people who have suffered in Ukraine to use the means as soon as possible. »
In addition, as notes The Telegraph, in a dispute with Roman Abramovich, the British authorities are now still connected by obligations with European partners. Despite the fact that the Chelsea sale deal was formally not international and was made within the UK, the British government and the European Commission signed a declaration in which the funds proceeds from it should be spent only within Ukraine.
