Media: Abramovich wants to send part of the money from the sale of Chelsea to the affected Russians
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Businessman Roman Abramovich doesn’t want all of the £2.3bn from the sale of Chelsea Football Club to go to help Ukraine. A “substantial” part of this amount, he believes, should reach the Russians affected by the conflict, writes Daily Mail, citing sources in the British Foreign Office.
According to them, neither London nor the European Commission (EC) will agree to this while sanctions against Abramovich are in effect. At the same time, Foreign Minister of the Kingdom James Cleverley said last week that he could not guarantee the transfer of funds to Ukraine until the British government leaves for summer vacation.
“We want to make sure that the money sent goes exclusively to the intended recipients. I need complete confidence that this is the case,” he said.
An interlocutor of the publication, close to Abramovich’s charitable foundation, expressed the hope that the funds will begin to flow to Ukraine before the end of this year, but “so far there are no guarantees that this will happen.”
On March 10, 2022, the UK imposed sanctions on Abramovich, froze his assets and banned the businessman from entering the country. In mid-March, a similar decision was made by the European Union. Britain explained the restrictions imposed on the businessman by his connection with the Kremlin and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Due to the imposition of sanctions, Abramovich decided to sell his Chelsea football club, and promised to send the proceeds to help Ukraine. In May of the same year, a deal was closed to sell the club to a group of businessmen led by American Todd Boely. The transaction amounted to 4.25 billion pounds, proceeds from the sale of 2.3 billion pounds ($2.95 billion at current exchange rates) remain in a frozen UK bank account owned by Fordstam, a company controlled by Abramovich, the Daily Mail notes. At the end of May, the businessman filed a lawsuit against the Council of Europe in the European Court of General Jurisdiction due to sanctions.
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