Roman Abramovich
Roman Abramovich sold Chelsea in 2022 under pressure from the British government after the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Prime minister says oligarch must commit funds from sale of London football club or face court action
The UK will formally issue instructions to transfer £2.5bn from Roman Abramovich’s sale of Chelsea FC to humanitarian causes in Ukraine, telling the billionaire to commit the funds or face court action.
Keir Starmer told the House of Commons the funds from the oligarch, who is subject to UK sanctions, would be converted in to a new foundation for Ukraine and that the issuing of a licence for the transfer was the last chance Abramovich would have to comply before legal action was taken.
The Russian billionaire sold Chelsea in 2022 under pressure from the British government after the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Abramovich was granted a licence from the UK government to sell Chelsea as long as the money was spent supporting the victims of the Ukraine war. The proceeds were placed in a UK bank account controlled by Abramovich’s company Fordstam.
Since then, the money has been frozen amid deadlock in negotiations with Abramovich over whether the money should be spent exclusively in Ukraine or whether it can go outside the country as well.
The government has promised to establish a foundation to disburse the money, headed by Mike Penrose, the former head of Unicef UK.
Ministers have stressed that they have tried for many years to agree terms with Abramovich and seek his cooperation in the transfer of the funds. Starmer said the government was prepared to take Abramovich to court in order to access the money.
The Guardian reported in March that ministers believed ultimately legal action was likely to be required.
The move comes as the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, has said proposals negotiated with US officials on a peace deal to end Russia’s war in Ukraine could soon be completed.
US officials said on Monday they had resolved “90%” of the problematic issues between Russia and Ukraine after two days of talks in Berlin, though Russian officials have not been present.
Talks are continuing this week between European leaders on a separate plan to use frozen Russian assets to finance Ukraine in the coming years, with a leaders’ meeting scheduled to begin on Thursday. Most of the assets, €185bn (£162bn), are held at the Euroclear central securities depository in Brussels.
Moscow has said that using the assets is theft and has threatened to seize European private investors’ holdings in Russia. Plans under discussion mean the EU would provide an initial €90bn loan for Ukraine – using the cash at Euroclear, but Russia’s claim on the funds would remain untouched. Ukraine would only repay the money if and when Russia agreed to pay reparations.