Three months after the sale of Chelsea Football Club, some £2.5 billion is still not in the hands of Ukrainians and is “sitting in Roman Abramovich’s bank account,” an MP claimed today.
As part of the UK’s attempts to target Russian billionaires and to put pressure on and isolate President Vladimir Putin after the invasion of Ukraine, the Stamford Bridge club was sold when Abramovich, its previous owner, was sanctioned.
Todd Boehly, an American businessman, paid £4.25 billion for the West London company in May, with an anticipated £2.5 billion in sale proceeds locked in a UK bank account.
This would enable those monies to be transferred to a new nonprofit organisation that would support individuals hurt by the conflict in Ukraine.
However, Labour MP Chris Bryant today disclosed that the money hadn’t been transferred and was remained in Abramovich’s possession.
A government minister said that they were unable to comment on particular instances.
Mr. Bryant questioned why it was “taking so long” for the money to reach the Ukrainian people during a Commons question-and-answer session with the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.
Roman Abramovich is one of the individuals who is subject to sanctions in the UK, according to the Rhondda Labour MP.
Even though Chelsea was sold on May 30, the Foreign Office has yet to establish the fund that will allow the money to be distributed to the Ukrainian people, so the billions of pounds are still sitting in his bank account.
“What’s the hold-up with the Foreign Office? When will it be resolved?
Rehman Chishti, a minister in the Foreign Office, said: “While I cannot comment on specific cases, what I would say is that 1,100 individuals, including 123 oligarchs and their family members with a global net worth of £130 billion, over 120 entities including all subsidiaries owned by these entities, and 19 Russian banks with global assets of around £940 billion, or over 80 percent of the Russian banking sector, in conjunction with partners, over 60 percent of Russia’s central bank for the time being
“That shows our determination that we will use our standards established by this Parliament to call those to account,” they said.
Bryant responded by yelling across the room, “Nonsense.”