The oligarch cannot now sell his football club Chelsea FC as planned.
(Photo: dpa)
London Britain imposed sanctions on a further seven Russian oligarchs on Thursday. Among them is for the first time the owner of the London football club Chelsea FC, Roman Abramovich. This means that the billionaire cannot now sell his club as planned.
The 55-year-old had already commissioned a US bank with the sale and made initial contacts with interested parties. Allegedly he wanted to achieve a proceeds of three billion pounds, the equivalent of about 3.6 billion euros.
The sale of his London real estate has now burst. Among other things, the billionaire owns a £150 million property on the private road in Kensington Palace Gardens and a three-storey penthouse right on the Thames.
The other new names on the list are aluminum king Oleg Deripaska, Rosneft CEO Igor Sechin, Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller, Transneft President Nikolai Tokarev, and the chairmen of the boards of directors of Russian banks VTB and Rossiya, Andrei Kostin and Dmitry Lebedev.
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With the exception of Abramovich, all of these men have already been sanctioned by the EU and the US. Their assets are now frozen and they are no longer allowed to enter the UK. Their planes and yachts can be confiscated on British territory.
>> Read also: The end of “Londongrad”? Johnson tightens white-collar crime law
Ever since Russia invaded Ukraine, Prime Minister Boris Johnson has been in a hurry to fight the oligarchs after years of government rolling out the red carpet for them. “There must be no safe havens for those who supported Putin’s vicious attack on Ukraine,” the PM said.
Secretary of State Liz Truss said the oligarchs were complicit with their close ties to Putin. “The blood of the Ukrainian people is on their hands.”
Abramovich is accused of having destabilized Ukraine through his stake in the Evraz steel company. The sanctions department at the Ministry of Finance stated that the steel may also have been used for tank production.
Chelsea may not sell tickets or merchandise
How things will continue with Chelsea FC is unclear. The Minister for Culture and Sport, Nadine Dorries, announced that the reigning Champions League winner would receive special permission to continue sporting operations.
However, the club is no longer allowed to sell merchandising or tickets. That means only season ticket holders can come to games. The club is also not allowed to buy or sell players. The squad includes the German internationals Antonio Rüdiger, Timo Werner and Kai Havertz.
The reigning Champions League winner is not allowed to sell tickets or fan articles.
(Photo: Reuters)
A total of around 20 oligarchs are now on the British sanctions list. More are expected to come when the new white-collar crime law goes into effect next week. Among other things, entire groups such as members of the Duma can then be sanctioned.
More: These are the main blacklisted oligarchs and politicians of the West.