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Lawyers representing Roman Abramovich have insisted that the £2.5bn proceeds from the sale of Chelsea football club belong entirely to him, and have warned that he will fight any attempt to confiscate the funds.
In a growing row between the oligarch and the government, Mr Abramovich’s legal team has also insisted ministers are responsible for the delay in releasing the funds for victims of the Ukraine war, claiming in a letter that this was always his intention and something he will do voluntarily when the assets are no longer tied up in a legal case.
But the letter has drawn a furious response from the foreign secretary, Yvette Cooper, who told The Independent: “It is time Roman Abramovich does the right thing, but if he won’t, we will act.”
The exchanges come ahead of a 17 March deadline for the former Chelsea owner to respond to demands, after the prime minister threatened legal action in December in an attempt to force Mr Abramovich to hand over the cash he received for the club in March 2022 to help pay compensation for the war.
In December last year, Keir Starmer said in the Commons: “My message to Abramovich is clear: the clock is ticking.”
He was backed up by senior ministers, including the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, who said: “It is unacceptable that more than £2.5bn of money owed to the Ukrainian people can be allowed to remain frozen in a UK bank account.”
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Roman Abramovich sold Chelsea nearly four years ago – but the proceeds are still frozen (AP)
A demand for the money, dated 17 December 2025, was sent to the Russian billionaire by the Office for Financial Sanctions Implementation, but Mr Abramovich’s legal representatives, Kobre and Kim, have today written a letter blaming the delay on the UK government.
It states: “Mr Abramovich has sought to advance the donation in accordance with the framework agreed to at the time of the transaction, which was recorded in a formal Deed of Undertaking that was expressly approved by the UK government.
“In the limited interactions that have taken place with UK authorities during this period, Mr Abramovich has consistently sought to resolve the complex legal issues preventing the donation from proceeding in order to advance his stated intention to donate the proceeds to charity.
“Nevertheless, the UK government has repeatedly chosen to disregard those matters, opting instead to issue public and political statements which do nothing to resolve the situation. It has now chosen to threaten litigation and to issue a licence unilaterally, without having a legal basis for doing so.”
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Abramovich was given a final warning by Starmer in December (Reuters/Getty)
The letter adds: “It is important to emphasise that the funds – although currently frozen – remain the property of Fordstam Limited, which is wholly owned by Mr Abramovich. The proposal to donate these proceeds was initiated by Mr Abramovich prior to the imposition of sanctions, and he remains fully committed to ensuring that the funds are used for charitable purposes.
“As such, any donation will be made voluntarily by our clients. Should the UK government believe it has the legal basis to confiscate these funds instead, it is of course open to initiate formal confiscation proceedings, which will be contested in court.”
Ms Cooper hit back, saying: “This money was promised to Ukraine over three years ago. It is time Roman Abramovich does the right thing, but if he won’t, we will act. That’s why the licence has been issued. It is time this money was used to rebuild the lives of people who’ve seen devastation as a result of Putin’s illegal war.”
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Roman Abramovich sold Chelsea in May 2022 (PA)
The government sees the action as part of efforts to recover assets from Russian billionaires linked to Vladimir Putin to help compensate Ukraine for the effects of the war.
Representatives of Mr Abramovich have previously blamed an open legal case in Jersey investigating the origin of his wealth for why he is unable to unfreeze his assets and proceed with the payment.
In April 2022, the Royal Court of Jersey imposed a formal freezing order on $7bn worth of assets in trusts that it said were linked to Mr Abramovich. The attorney general of Jersey also said Mr Abramovich was a suspect in a criminal investigation. The Jersey government said claims against Mr Abramovich came because he admitted during High Court proceedings between him and the late oligarch Boris Berezovsky, which ended in 2012, that he had engaged in corrupt activity in Russia in the 1990s and early 2000s. But Mr Abramovich has argued that his wealth underwent significant scrutiny when Jersey gave him residency status in 2016.
Under Putin, Mr Abramovich, 59, served as governor of the remote Arctic region of Chukotka in Russia’s Far East, where he made his fortune.