Government ‘must not delay’ over Abramovich’s £2.5bn Chelsea funds, Tories say

Shadow chancellor Mel Stride has insisted the government “must not delay taking further action” against Roman Abramovich to unlock £2.5bn held after his sale of Chelsea.

The Russian was forced to offload the Premier League club in 2022 after Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, with the proceeds of the sale to a consortium led by Todd Boehly frozen in a bank account after Abramovich was sanctioned.

The government is now preparing to sue Abramovich to release the funds amid a dispute over whether the £2.5bn will go to the Ukrainian victims of war – as the government insists – or “all victims”, as the Russian said in a statement in 2022.

Shadow chancellor Sir Mel Stride told Morning Wire: “The Conservatives couldn’t be clearer. We want the more than £2bn worth of assets out the door and into the hands of those delivering the humanitarian response to Russia’s illegal invasion. This is urgent. 

“Labour have been in office for 18 months, but the money still hasn’t moved.

“With Ukraine fighting for freedom against Russian aggression, the Government must not delay taking further action to ensure these assets get to where they need to be.”

Abramovich funds frozen

It comes after the passing of a 17 March deadline issued by the government in December, when the Prime Minister warned that the 59-year-old could be sued.

The government wants all of the proceeds to go to victims of the Ukrainian invasion, but accounts for the firm which operated as Chelsea’s parent company under Abramovich – Fordstam – stated that it “intends” to give less than £1bn to a charitable foundation after loan repayments.

A government spokesperson said: “We gave Roman Abramovich his last chance to do the right thing. Once again, he has failed to make the donation he committed to.

“We will now take further steps to ensure that the promise he made at the time of the Chelsea sale is kept.”

It follows Chelsea being fined £11m and handed with a one-year transfer ban, suspended for two years, over Abramovich-era secret payments, amounting to £47m, between 2011 and 2018 relating to transfers and agents.

Players were not accused of wrongdoing after the current ownership’s self-reported queries of the Abramovich era were investigated by the Premier League, and the club were not given a points deduction.

The sanctions regime was implemented in 2022 by a Conservative government under Boris Johnson.