The British government is ready to sue Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich if he doesn’t agree to accept paying £2.5bn ($3.4bn) raised from the sale of London football club Chelsea to Ukraine. Reuters quotes this on the basis of a joint statement by British Finance Minister Rachel Reeves and Foreign Secretary David Lammy.
After the beginning of war in Ukraine, Abramovich’s UK assets, including Chelsea football club, were frozen. Chelsea Football Club, which Abramovich owned since 2003, was sold by him in March 2022. He offered to sell the club on the condition that the sale proceeds would be given entirely to charitable organizations devoted to helping victims of war.
British authorities want the money to be spent only in Ukraine, including rebuilding what was destroyed by the Russian invasion. Abramovich believes the money should go to ‘all victims of the war in Ukraine,’ including those in Russia. The money is currently frozen in a bank account in the UK. He cannot access it because of sanctions, but legally it still belongs to him.
Abramovich’s representatives earlier said that the businessman had no access to the funds in question and that the money from the sale of the club itself was at the disposal of the British authorities, so Abramovich was not involved in the process of distributing it.
