Roman Abramovich’s £2.35bn Chelsea sale threat: New accounts suggest less than HALF of the money will go to Ukraine war victims – with rest being owed to oligarch-owned companies

Far less than half of the £2.35billion generated from Roman Abramovich’s sale of Chelsea could go to victims of the war in Ukraine as promised, new accounts suggested today.

The oligarch was forced to sell Chelsea in 2022 after being sanctioned over his alleged ties to Vladimir Putin following Russia’s invasion of its neighbour.

The government pledged all the money from the sale would be sent to support humanitarian causes in Ukraine.

But today it emerged that a fraction of the £2.35billion paid by Todd Boehly for the London Premier League giants may go to support people caught up in the European war. 

Company accounts linked to the sale have revealed that only the ‘net proceeds’ would be gifted, with loans totalling £1.54billlon owed to Abramovich-owned companies.  

This would leave around £987million to be given to war victims.

Another complication is also said to be a dispute between Abramovich and the British government over where the Chelsea sale money should be spent. The Oligarch has been clear since 2022 that he wants the cash to be used to support both Ukrainians and Russians caught up in the war.

University of Liverpool academic Kieran Maguire, one of Britain’s top football finance experts said today: ‘The expectation that the full proceeds of the sale of Chelsea would go to the victims of the Ukraine war appear to have been overplayed’.

He told The Times: ‘The slow progress in distributing the money, partially due to queries raised by parties connected to Abramovich, and the loans repayable to his offshore funding company, could result in a much smaller than anticipated distribution, assuming that one is finally made’. 

All the money from the sale three years ago remains frozen in the bank account of Fordstam Ltd, the former parent company of Chelsea which is owned by Abramovich. 

And Fordstam Ltd’s much delayed accounts have finally been published – and suggest that loans to the Abramovich-owned company totalling £1.54billlon need to be paid off first before any money can go to support Ukrainian charities.

If the loans and other costs are paid in full, this would mean that around £987million of the £2.35billion sale price would remain available for good causes. 

American billionaire Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital paid £2.5billion for Chelsea in 2022, and after transaction-related expenses such as legal fees, £2.3billion was left. 

At the time of the sale, Roman Abramovich’s press office said he ‘wanted the proceeds to be transferred to a charitable foundation for the needs of the victims on both sides of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.’

But since then the £2.3billion has remained frozen,

Fordstam Ltd accounts for the year ending on June 2022 have been published on Companies House, which were finally signed off on October 10 this year.

The accounts include an ongoing concern, which casts doubt on whether the full proceeds of the sale will go to victims of the war in Ukraine.

‘The intention of the owner of Fordstam limited, Roman Abramovich, as announced in a public statement is for the company to gift the net proceeds of sale, after allowing for other balance sheet items, to a charitable foundation set up to benefit those who have suffered due to the war in Ukraine,’ the accounts state.

‘Once this is done and all balance sheet items cleared then the intention is to liquidate the company.’

Fordstam’s accounts show that the company made a net profit of £987million, while £1.42bn is owed to Camberley International Investments Limited.

The company, registered in Jersey, is owned by Abramovich.

In total, the outstanding balance on all related party loans was £1.54bn as of June 30 in 2022.

Neither the loans or the funds for a charitable foundation can be released from the accounts until the Office of Financial Sanctions (OFSI) grants a licence.

In June, Chancellor Rachel Reeves and foreign secretary David Lammy warned ministers were ‘deeply frustrated’ at the lack of progress in unlocking the frozen funds and said legal action was on the table.

‘The Government is determined to see the proceeds from the sale of Chelsea Football Club reach humanitarian causes in Ukraine, following Russia’s illegal full-scale invasion,’ the statement read.

‘We are deeply frustrated that it has not been possible to reach agreement on this with Mr Abramovich so far.

‘While the door for negotiations will remain open, we are fully prepared to pursue this through the courts if required, to ensure people suffering in Ukraine can benefit from these proceeds as soon as possible.’