The chancellor and foreign secretary are threatening to take Roman Abramovich to court to seize the proceeds of his Chelsea FC sale. The Russian oligarch, who is sanctioned by the UK government over his alleged links to Vladimir Putin, sold Chelsea for £2.5bn to an American consortium in 2022, after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Those funds remain in a frozen UK bank account but are meant to be used for humanitarian causes linked to the Ukraine war. Chancellor Rachel Reeves and Foreign Secretary David Lammy have now said they are «deeply frustrated» an agreement cannot be reached with the oligarch and will take him to court if it cannot be dealt with soon. In a joint statement, they said: «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. We are deeply frustrated that it has not been possible to reach agreement on this with Mr Abramovich so far. 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.»
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Abramovich was forced to sell Chelsea – which he bought for a reported £140m – after 19 years of ownership, after being sanctioned by the government over his alleged close ties to the Russian president – something he denies. The sale was made under the supervision of the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation, under the proviso the proceeds go to humanitarian aid in Ukraine. They cannot be moved or used without a licence from the office.
In March, the Foreign Office said officials were in talks with Abramovich’s representatives, but multiple sources told the BBC there had been no meetings between any Labour ministers and members of the foundation set up to oversee the funds since last July’s general election. They said there was a deadlock and a political decision by a minister is needed to negotiate and sign off an agreement. It is not known if there has been meetings in the three months since then. The £2.5bn – and interest accrued – would make up for some of the reduction in the aid budget, announced in February.
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