Shakhtar Donetsk chief executive Serhii Palkin has urged Andy Burnham to help resolve the dispute over £2.5 billion from Roman Abramovich’s sale of Chelsea.
He warns that Ukraine urgently needs the money to support its fight against Russia.
The funds have been frozen in a UK bank account controlled by Abramovich’s company, Fordstam, since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
The money was raised when Abramovich was forced to sell Chelsea after facing sanctions. However, the funds still have not been disbursed because of disagreements over how to distribute them.
One key issue is whether it must be spent exclusively in Ukraine.
Palkin believes the British government must take decisive action to end the delay, particularly as Russian attacks continue to threaten the country.
Shakhtar are set to play their Champions League home matches at Chelsea’s home ground, Stamford Bridge, this season.
The Ukrainian giants are set to take on AEK Athens on Wednesday, and Palkin has used that opportunity to call on the UK government to turn its support for Ukraine into meaningful action.
He said the money could assist the country in its time of need and also warned that continued delay could have serious consequences.
“I believe that the Prime Minister will settle this question somehow because Ukraine really needs support now, needs financial support,” he told [The Telegraph](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2026/10/13/burnham-must-break-deadlock-abramovichs-chelsea-sale/).
“Can you imagine what kind of support it can provide to Ukraine? We have very, very extensive and severe attacks from Russia, and we need to protect our country.
“We need to survive and this money just stays years already with nothing happening. You hear that everybody supports Ukraine, but we don’t want this support to be finished just by words.
“We need actions. It’s very important to jump from words to actions. Real actions. And if we just stop paying attention, what’s going to happen? Catastrophe.”
Abramovich owned Chelsea for 19 years before selling the club to a consortium led by Clearlake Capital and Todd Boehly in 2022. [Clearlake took full control last month after purchasing Boehly’s stake](https://footballtoday.com/2026/09/10/todd-boehly-and-mark-walter-close-to-selling-chelsea-stake-to-clearlake/).