The UK and the European Union are arguing over almost $3bn hung from the sale of the Chelsea club by Roman Abramovich. The EU demands that this money be spent on the restoration of Ukraine. London insists that these funds go to help the victims, according to The Daily Telegraph.
The newspaper recalls that the former owner of Chelsea, Roman Abramovich, when he sold the club last spring, agreed with the British authorities that the money would go to help “all victims of the conflict in Ukraine.” Then the businessman instructed to form a charitable foundation, where he would transfer the proceeds from the sale of Chelsea. According to the British edition, the EU has almost managed to convince London.
London is ready to agree with the arguments of Brussels, writes The Daily Telegraph. A British government source told the newspaper: “We want Ukraine to receive this money as soon as possible, given the recent destruction of the Kakhovka hydroelectric dam. But we must ensure that our sanctions regime is respected.” At the moment, funds from the sale of the Chelsea football club are frozen in a bank account.
Roman Abramovich bought Chelsea in 2003 for £140m. In March 2022, the billionaire came under UK sanctions. In May of the same year, the English Premier League approved the sale of the club to a consortium of American businessman Todd Boely. Under the terms of the license from the UK government, the money from the sale of the club should be transferred to help Ukrainian refugees. Ambramovic announced that the foundation would work for the benefit of all victims of the conflict in Ukraine and for long-term reconstruction work.
The media wrote (the link leads to a resource blocked in the Russian Federation) that the size of the fund will be 2.35 billion pounds. At the current exchange rate, this is about 3 billion dollars. In early April of this year, Bloomberg reported that the fund was almost ready to go. However, the approval of his work by the UK government will take longer than expected. “There are complexities and delays associated with political approval, both between the UK and the EU, and within the UK,” the agency quoted the head of the fund, former Unicef UK chief executive Mike Penrose.
The money from the sale of Chelsea remains not withdrawn, but blocked, it still belongs to Roman Abramovich. The British government must issue a license, the transfer of funds must also be approved by Abramovich’s Fordstam fund.