UK demands Abramovich’s Chelsea sale funds go to Ukraine war victims

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03/06/2025 – 15:48 GMT+2

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The British authorities has threatened authorized motion in opposition to Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich to make sure that the £2.5 billion (€2.97bn) proceeds from his sale of Chelsea Soccer Membership attain Ukrainian victims of Russia’s all-out warfare, now in its fourth 12 months.

“The federal government is decided to see the proceeds from the sale of Chelsea Soccer Membership attain humanitarian causes in Ukraine, following Russia’s unlawful full-scale invasion,” Chancellor Rachel Reeves and International Secretary David Lammy mentioned in a joint assertion on Tuesday.

“We’re deeply annoyed that it has not been attainable to succeed in an settlement on this with Mr Abramovich thus far,“ they added.

“Whereas the door for negotiations will stay open, we’re totally ready to pursue this by way of the courts if required, to make sure folks struggling in Ukraine can profit from these proceeds as quickly as attainable.”

Abramovich, who has denied allegations that he’s a detailed affiliate of Russian President Vladimir Putin, was sanctioned within the wake of Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

The oil and gasoline tycoon offered Chelsea in Could 2022 to a consortium led by US investor Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital, after the British authorities allowed him to half with the membership so long as he didn’t personally profit from the deal.

The £2.5bn web proceeds have been frozen ever since, however nonetheless legally belong to Abramovich. They can’t be moved with out a licence from the UK Workplace of Monetary Sanctions Implementation.

Three years after Abramovich offered the London-based membership, the UK authorities has threatened to sue him amid an ongoing dispute about how the cash ought to be spent.

Whereas the British authorities insists that every one the cash should go to humanitarian causes in Ukraine, Abramovich has mentioned it ought to be “for the advantage of all victims of the warfare in Ukraine”, together with folks in Russia.

Since Putin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the UK has been one among Kyiv’s closest allies. In January, London pledged to provide it an additional £4.5bn (€5.34bn) in army assist.