There is money, but you hold on

Funds received from the sale of the English football club Chelsea by Russian entrepreneur Roman Abramovich may never reach the victims of the events in Ukraine. We are talking about £2.3 billion frozen in one of the British banks. According to the Daily Mail, the fulfillment of the terms of the deal, the key of which was the transfer of money to a charitable foundation established to support those affected by the events in Ukraine, has stalled. According to the sources of the publication, the whole point is the desire of Mr. Abramovich to ensure that a significant part of the money goes to the Russians. Without the approval of the British authorities, this option is impossible. And they will not give consent until the sanctions are lifted both from Russia in general and from Roman Abramovich in particular. At the same time, they cannot act independently, without the signature of Mr. Abramovich.

Edition Daily Mail reported on the serious difficulties faced by the British authorities in the story of the sale of the Chelsea football club by Roman Abramovich. Londoners recall, changed ownership last spring, when they came under the control of American businessman Todd Beuley. In total, the purchase cost him £ 4.25 billion. Of this, about £ 2.5 billion was paid for the club itself, and another £ 1.75 billion were Mr. academy, women’s team, etc.). It should also be noted that Mr. Abramovich sold Chelsea, which he owned since 2003 (at that time the club cost the businessman £140 million), under pressure from the British authorities, who included him in the sanctions list after the start of events in Ukraine.

One of the most important conditions for the British government’s approval of the sale of the team was the provision of guarantees that Roman Abramovich would not receive anything from her.

As a result, the parties agreed that the money would be transferred to a charitable foundation, through which they would be brought to the victims of the events in Ukraine. According to the Daily Mail, we are talking about £ 2.3 billion. The decrease by £ 200 million, apparently, is due to the fact that part of the funds went to overhead costs. At least in March last year, Mr. Abramovich said that all proceeds would go to the charitable foundation, minus the costs required to complete the transaction.

But more than a year has passed, and the money has not reached the already established fund. Sources of the Daily Mail in the British Foreign Office claim that Roman Abramovich himself prevents the transfer of money. At the moment, the funds are on the account of Fordstam (until the spring of last year, it was the parent structure of Chelsea) in one of the British banks. The account has been seized and the money on it cannot be used without the sanction of the British authorities. But, surprisingly, according to Daily Mail sources, they cannot be used without the consent of Roman Abramovich. If this is indeed the case, then it remains only to congratulate the specialists who conducted the deal on the part of Mr. Abramovich for a job well done.

The essence of the disagreement, according to the sources of the publication, is that Roman Abramovich insists that a significant part of the funds be transferred to Russia or those of the Russians who were affected by the conflict in Ukraine. In fact, when Mr. Abramovich announced that he would sell the club, he said that he “instructed his team to establish a charity fund to help the victims of the war in Ukraine, to which the proceeds from the sale of Chelsea would be donated.”

Not a word was said that the money would go only and exclusively to Ukraine. The British authorities, however, take a different view. The result is a stalemate, and, sources do not exclude, there are fears that the money will never reach the charitable foundation.

Indeed, among other things, as The Telegraph previously reported, there is also a dispute between the British authorities and the EU (Mr. Abramovich is included in the sanctions list of the European Union too). The first want to give money specifically to help the victims, the second just want to transfer it to the Kyiv authorities.

However, the UK government is officially talking about only some delays. Thus, British Foreign Secretary James Cleverley noted that the government only wants to get guarantees that the funds will go to those who are intended. But in any case, this will not happen until autumn (in July, the Cabinet of Ministers goes on vacation, from which it will return only in September). And according to a source familiar with the situation, at best, the situation will clear up closer to winter. “At first there was hope that the money would arrive last summer, then in January 2023,” the source said. “Now, we hope, the money will begin to flow to Ukraine before winter. But there is no guarantee that this will happen.”

Alexander Petrov