Roman Abramovich has hit back at the UK government over the funds raised from his sale of Premier League football club Chelsea in 2022. The Russian businessman was initially supposed to distribute the £2.35 billion raised to Ukrainian victims of the ongoing war with Russia.
However, the money has been frozen since May 2022, and now Abramovich is claiming to be the owner of the large sum. According to talkSPORT, the 59-year-old is still keen to give money to charitable causes, including all victims of the war in Ukraine.
Nothing has been done yet as both parties still dispute where the money should go, with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer warning Abramovich that it's time to 'pay up' in December 2025. He has now responded through a strong statement, claiming he's ready to go to court over the disagreement.
Roman Abramovich Argues With UK Government
Former Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich
Abramovich's team have written a letter, which claims any legal action taken by the UK government will be challenged. The statement, as reported by talkSPORT, also says that the money is 'wholly owned by Mr Abramovich':
"Strangely, the UK government appears to be treating this proposed donation as a form of punitive measure against Mr Abramovich.
"This is fundamentally incorrect. It is important to emphasise that the funds — although currently frozen — remain the property of Fordstam Limited, which is wholly owned by Mr Abramovich."
"Should the UK government believe it has the legal basis to confiscate these funds instead, it is of course open to initiate formal confiscation proceedings, which will be contested in court," it concluded.
Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper has already responded to the position taken by the Russian oligarch, who is known to have a close relationship to Vladimir Putin.
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She retorted: "This money was promised to Ukraine over three years ago. It is time Roman Abramovich does the right thing, but if he won’t, we will act. That’s why the licence has been issued.
"It is time this money was used to rebuild the lives of people who’ve seen devastation as a result of Putin’s illegal war."
Why Abramovich Had to Sell Chelsea
chelsea corner flag
In March 2022, Abramovich announced that he was left with no choice but to look for a sale of Chelsea after almost two decades as the club's owner. The UK government also sanctioned him due to his speculated relationship with Putin.
The Todd Boehly-Clearlake Capital consortium completed a £2.5 billion takeover of the west Londoners in May of the same year. However, £150m was set aside to deal with potential issues arising from due diligence, which included ongoing FA charges over allleged rule breaches during Abramovich's time in charge.
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Complicating matters further, £1.4bn of the funds will need to be withheld as that is the sum owed to Camberley International Investments Limited after Abramovich made a loan from his Jersey-registered company to Chelsea.
"At the time of the sale, Abramovich made it clear he would write off this loan, but there are now legal issues due to an active criminal case against Abramovich from the Jersey government."