Published on
03/06/2025 – 15:48 GMT+2
The British executive has threatened felony motion in opposition to Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich to make certain that the £2.5 billion (€2.97bn) proceeds from his sale of Chelsea Football Club succeed in Ukrainian sufferers of Russia’s all-out warfare, now in its fourth yr.
“The government is determined to see the proceeds from the sale of Chelsea Football Club reach humanitarian causes in Ukraine, following Russia’s illegal full-scale invasion,” Chancellor Rachel Reeves and Foreign Secretary David Lammy said in a joint statement on Tuesday.
“We are deeply frustrated that it has not been possible to reach an agreement on this with Mr Abramovich so far,“ they added.
“While the door for negotiations will remain open, we are fully prepared to pursue this through the courts if required, to ensure people suffering in Ukraine can benefit from these proceeds as soon as possible.”
Abramovich, who has denied allegations that he’s an in depth affiliate of Russian President Vladimir Putin, used to be sanctioned within the wake of Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
The oil and fuel magnate offered Chelsea in May 2022 to a consortium led by way of US investor Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital, after the British executive allowed him to phase with the membership so long as he didn’t in my view get pleasure from the deal.
The £2.5bn internet proceeds had been frozen ever since, however nonetheless legally belong to Abramovich. They can’t be moved and not using a licence from the United Kingdom Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation.
Three years after Abramovich offered the London-based membership, the United Kingdom executive has threatened to sue him amid an ongoing dispute about how the cash will have to be spent.
While the British executive insists that all of the cash should pass to humanitarian reasons in Ukraine, Abramovich has stated it will have to be “for the benefit of all victims of the war in Ukraine”, together with folks in Russia.
Since Putin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the United Kingdom has been one in every of Kyiv’s closest allies. In January, London pledged to offer it an additional £4.5bn (€5.34bn) in army beef up.
