Roman Abramovich stated that he would not transfer the funds from the sale of Chelsea to Ukraine until the Jersey authorities cease investigations and legal proceedings against him. This concerns billions of pounds that have remained frozen since 2022, despite demands from the British government to direct these funds to aid Ukraine. This is reported by UNN with reference to DW.
Details
Representatives of the Russian billionaire reported that the money from the sale of the football club cannot be transferred to a charitable foundation to support Ukraine until the government of the British island of Jersey ceases its investigation and lawsuit against Roman Abramovich.
This concerns the transfer of 1.4 billion pounds sterling (approximately 1.6 billion euros) from the total amount of 2.35 billion pounds received from the sale of Chelsea. Abramovich intends to ignore the demands of British Prime Minister Keir Starmer to allocate the entire amount
It is noted that the Russian billionaire has already hired a team of lawyers to participate in the lawsuit, including Eric Hershmann, a former adviser to US President Donald Trump.
According to DW, all funds from the sale of Chelsea, as well as 150 million pounds in interest, have been frozen since 2022 in the bank account of Abramovich's company Fordstam Ltd. In total, Jersey courts have frozen over 5.3 billion pounds belonging to the Russian businessman.
Recall
In September 2025, the European Union court rejected the appeals of Viktor Yanukovych and Roman Abramovich regarding their exclusion from the EU sanctions list.
In December 2025, The Guardian reported that the UK would officially issue an order to transfer 2.5 billion pounds sterling (about 2.9 billion euros) from the sale of FC Chelsea by Roman Abramovich for humanitarian purposes in Ukraine, ordering the billionaire to allocate the funds or face legal action.