Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich sold the Premier League club to an American consortium last year
Ex-Chelsea boss Roman Abramovich has refused to sign a deal that would see the proceeds from his sale of the Premier League giants in May 2022 go to Ukraine victims of Moscow’s clash with Kiev, the Daily Mail reported on Saturday. By.
Abramovich, who financed a trophy-laden revolution at Stamford Bridge after first buying the London-based football club in 2003, sold Chelsea to a consortium led by American businessman Todd Burley last year in a deal estimated to Worth $5.4 billion.
Abramovich earmarked a portion of the proceeds of approximately $3 billion for “For the needs of victims on both sides of the conflict in Russia and Ukraine, has been transferred to a charitable foundation,” the billionaire’s press office said last year.
But a report this weekend suggested that Abramovich has yet to sign a deal to transfer funds to humanitarian work in Ukraine and Russia — because British rules prohibit international money transfers to Moscow.
“We want to ensure that the funds that are released go exclusively to the intended recipients,” British Secretary of State James Cleverley said last week. “That’s the case and I need to be fully reassured.” Clever added that he could not guarantee a solution would be found before ministers’ summer break begins next month. They resume work in September.
Another UK government source told the Daily Mail “We hope that funds will start to reach Ukraine before harsh winter conditions return at the end of the year, but there is no guarantee that will happen at this time.”
The $3 billion at the source of the dispute remains frozen in a British bank account run by Abramovich-linked Fordstram, pending Foreign Office approval to send it overseas.
The sale of Chelsea to the Burleigh consortium went well last year after the British government imposed sanctions on Abramovich following Moscow’s offensive against Ukraine due to his links to the Kremlin.
You can share this story on social media:
