£2.5 billion raised from the sale of the London football club Chelsea by the Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich "is still tied up" even three years later, although the money was supposed to be directed to humanitarian aid for Ukraine.
Lyra NightingaleThis was stated on the air of BBC Radio 4 by the legal advisor of the organization Redress, which helps to achieve justice and compensation for victims of torture and fights against the impunity of criminals, Lyra Nightingale.
Roman Abramovich announced the sale of Chelsea in March 2022 amid numerous calls to impose sanctions against him following the start of Russia’s full-scale military invasion of Ukraine.
Sanctions were imposed a few days later, and the sale was officially completed in May 2022.
At that time, Abramovich promised to direct all the funds raised to a fund for helping the victims of the war initiated by Russia against Ukraine. Representatives of the Russian oligarch stated that an "independent fund" would be created to monitor the income from the sale.
However, as Nightingale states, the money remains inaccessible, raising questions about the delays and complexities of transferring such a significant sum under current geopolitical conditions.
"About three years ago, Abramovich was hit by these anti-Russian sanctions — and he was granted a license to sell the football club Chelsea. The money raised from this was meant to help Ukraine. But three years later we are still waiting. And the government doesn't explain why this is so. They are still tied up. This money was clearly allocated for humanitarian purposes in Ukraine," said the legal advisor.
Nightingale stated, "there is a clear lack of transparency."
"In three years of the campaign to ensure that this money goes where the government promised, it has not happened," she summarized.
Earlier, the House of Lords European Affairs Committee reported that this money had been frozen in a bank account in the UK due to "discrepancies" regarding "where it should be spent."
On May 27, 2022, it became known that the deal for the sale of the London Chelsea by Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich to an American consortium of investors led by Todd Boehly was completed.
The deal amounted to £4.25 billion, of which £2.5 billion was directly allocated to purchase the shares of the club.
On July 4, 2023, the head of the fund that was supposed to distribute this money, former executive director of Unicef in the UK Mike Penrose, stated that they could only be used within Ukraine and that they planned to direct them towards humanitarian programs.
