Britain freezes $2.9 billion sent by Abramovich to victims of war in Ukraine - Bloomberg

The UK authorities are delaying the transfer of $2.9 billion from Roman Abramovich to a fund to help victims of the war in Ukraine. Since he received this money from the sale of the Chelsea football club, the money remains frozen in a British account.

Source. Bloomberg

At the same time, the fund is ready to start working and has a management team, but approval by the British government is taking longer than expected. The delay is due to the need to approve agreements between the UK and the EU.

It has been a year since Abramovich sold Chelsea, but the funds are still frozen in a bank account in the UK.

After the sale, Abramovich himself proposed to set up a charitable foundation and donate all the proceeds from the deal to the victims of the war in Ukraine. The proceeds will be kept in a British bank account until they are transferred to the fund.

According to the agency's source, there are obstacles to a donation from a person under sanctions, and they will have to be overcome before Ukraine can see the money.

Sanctions against Abramovich were imposed by Britain and the European Union in March 2022 over his links to the Russian government. Abramovich has denied any financial ties to the Kremlin and has filed a lawsuit to have the sanctions lifted.

The Ukrainian government added Abramovich to its own sanctions list.

In January, the WSJ reported that Abramovich continues to participate in the negotiations between Ukraine and Russia, but Ukrainian, American and European officials do not expect him to play a "key role" in these talks.