Roman Abramovich has begun a ‘fire sale’ of his sprawling London portfolio as he tries to offload Chelsea FC for £3billion and £200million worth of properties – with an MP claiming the Russian billionaire is acting quickly to stop his assets being frozen.
Labour’s Chris Bryant, using parliamentary privilege to avoid legal action, alleged the tycoon is selling his home and an apartment because he is ‘terrified of being sanctioned’, adding that he feared the government will soon run out of time to act.
Abramovich is worth 10.4bn ($12.5bn), according to Forbes, and owns a £150m Kensington mansion, a £22m penthouse, and more than £1.2bn of yachts, private jets, helicopters and supercars based in Britain and around the world.
Chelsea FC is his most valuable British asset, after the oligarch transformed its fortunes from outside challengers to Premier League giants with the help of Jose Mourinho and huge signings like Didier Drogba, so its sale will be a personal blow to the billionaire industrialist.
Abramovich is worth 10.4bn ($12.5bn), according to Forbes, and owns a £150m Kensington mansion, a £22m penthouse, and more than £1.2bn of yachts, private jets, helicopters and supercars based in Britain and around the world
Ukraine war: The latest
- Russian paratroopers land in Ukraine’s second city amid heavy fighting
- ‘There are practically no areas left in Kharkiv where an artillery shell has not yet hit’: Interior Ministry official
- Joe Biden brands Vladimir Putin a ‘dictator’ in his annual State of the Union address as he bans Russian aircraft from US airspace
- Russia steps up its bombing campaign and missile strikes, hitting Kyiv’s main television tower, two residential buildings in a town west of the city and the city of Bila Tserkva to the south of the capital
- Russian forces push into the besieged Black Sea city of Kherson in the south
- Russian attacks leave Mariupol, another Black Sea port further to the west without electricity
- More than 677,000 people have fled Ukraine since the Russian invasion, the UN’s refugee agency says
- The UN’s International Court of Justice says it will hold public hearings on March 7 and 8 over Ukraine’s allegations of ‘genocide’ by Russia
- Russia blocks an independent television channel and a liberal radio station, tightening a virtual media blackout
- A string of Western companies announce they are freezing or scaling back business with Russia
- Russians race to withdraw cash after the introduction of capital controls and as the ruble hits record lows
- Russian-owned Nord Stream 2 goes insolvent after Germany halts the pipeline following Moscow’s invasion
- Oil prices soar past $110 a barrel, despite agreements to release 60 million barrels from stockpiles
- The World Bank prepares a $3-billion aid package for Ukraine, including $350 million in immediate funds
Today, Labour Leader Sir Keir Starmer pressed the Prime Minister on why Abramovich has not been sanctioned, claiming he had ‘links to the Russian state’ and ‘public association with corrupt activity and practices’.
Mr Johnson said it is not ‘appropriate’ for him to comment on individual cases. Foreign Secretary Liz Truss has previously said she has a ‘hit list’ of oligarchs they are targeting, but has not named all of them.
Kremlin-linked billionaires are also facing fresh threats of asset seizures from the US, with Joe Biden using his State of the Union address to say America was coming to ‘seize your yachts, your luxury apartments, your private jets’.
Abramovich has never held UK citizenship, and made his fortune selling assets purchased from the state when the USSR broke up. He vehemently denies being close to the Kremlin or doing anything that would merit sanctions.
Immigration officials are reportedly under instructions to make it impossible for him to base himself in the UK. Scrutiny from MPs, and his status as the Britain’s best known Russian oligarch, makes him all the more vulnerable.
Abramovich has seven children from two of his ex-wives. The eldest, Anna, 29, is a Columbia University philosophy graduate who lives in New York, while Arkadiy, 27, is an industrial tycoon with substantial oil and gas investments.
Sofia, 26, lives in London and the ‘wild child’ ‘of the family, recently posted a message on Instagram attacking Vladimir Putin for his invasion of Ukraine. Less is known about Arina, 20, and Ilya, 18, or Aaron, 11 and Leah Lou, 7, who were both born in New York to his third wife, Dasha.
Abramovich’s current location is unknown, but he has recently been in Belarus ‘trying to help’ negotiate an end to Russia’s war against Ukraine following its illegal invasion of the country.
The conflict entered its seventh day today, with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky warning Russia was seeking to erase Ukraine and its people after officials said 2,000 civilians had been killed.
As pressure grows to punish anyone seen having aided Putin’s regime, here is a round-up of Abramovich’s assets in Britain, as well as yachts, cars and planes that are strewn across the world.
‘UP FOR SALE’
Chelsea FC: £3bn
The West London club is the jewel of Abramovich’s empire, so his decision to put it up for sale for a reported £3bn – as revealed today – must have been personally painful.
It is understood that the Russian is targeting American buyers as investment from China, the Far East and Eastern Europe has dried up for clear political reasons, although there are major doubts that any potential buyer will meet his ambitious valuation.
American bank Raine Group is overseeing the sale, with prospective buyers given until just Friday to file ‘indicative bids’, the NY Times reported – suggesting Abramovich is keen to seal a quick deal.
Raine Group first acted for Chelsea in 2018 after talks with US private equity firm Silverlake and British billionaire Jim Ratcliffe broke up without reaching an agreement.
The Russian tycoon regularly took his family along to watch Chelsea matches, and is pictured here with his third wife, Dasha Zhukova
Abramovich posing with the Champions League trophy in Porto last year with his sons Aaron (left) and Arkadiy
How Roman Abramovich went from penniless orphan to one of the world’s richest men
By James Gant for MailOnline
Abramovich, 55, has gone through a remarkable rise having been born a penniless orphan in Saratov, south west Russia, and raised by parents in Siberia from the age of four. He started off flogging plastic dolls on a market stall after dropping out of two colleges, but has been accused of using ruthless determination to become one of the richest men in the world before he was 40.
His first move into making serious money came during the perestroika – meaning openness – reforms as the Soviet Union started to wind down under Mikhail Gorbachev. The changes loosened the regime’s grip on businesses, meaning oligarchs could rise by making their firms legal and buy up state-owned companies.
His fortune boomed when he linked up with Boris Berezovsky, who run the national car dealer firm Lada, but who was also close with President Boris Yeltsin. It gave the rising businessman key access, which was pivotal to making huge sums in post-Soviet Russia, and he even lived in a flat in the Kremlin.
When the USSR’s industry was carved up at the top table, Abramovich was there to make his first few billions – mainly by buying up oil company Sibneft. Berezovsky and Abramovich purchased the firm for just £100million using the controversial loans-for-shares program – when it was estimated to be worth around £600m.
It was the starting blocks for the tycoon’s huge wealth, with him raking back around £1.8bn from the sale of Sibneft. The bulk of Abramovich’s UK wealth is to be found in Evraz, a steel and mining giant listed on the London stock market, which he is the largest shareholder.
Aside from business, Abramovich also worked in politics, becoming the governor of the far eastern Chukotka region in 2000 – after winning 92 per-cent of the vote – and pumped £180million into it. Abramovich lost a number of properties during his 2007 divorce from his second wife Irina, with whom he has five children. She bagged a £30million home on the Riviera called Chateau de la Croe as well as an estate in Sussex called Fyning Hill, which Abramovich had bought for £18million.
She fared better than his first wife, Olga, who he married when he was still a penniless student back in the Soviet Union. When Abramovich, then 20, spotted Olga, a 23-year-old daughter of a high-ranking government diplomat, across a crowded restaurant in Ukhta in Russia’s Komi Republic in 1987, he was shy. Afraid Olga would reject him, he sent a friend over to ask the geology student to dance. They later married and went on to share a one-bed flat in a tower block with Olga’s daughter Nastya – from a previous relationship.
But when Olga’s marriage to Abramovich ended in 1989 – amid him working long hours to make his fortune – he gave her only enough money to live on for two years. He rented another flat for her further out of Moscow, but on the understanding she and her daughter would later move back into the flat on Tsvetnoi Boulevard because Olga wanted Nastya to attend a better school near there.
Abramovich soon shacked up with Irina, a London-based former Aeroflot stewardess who wed the Russian tycoon in 1991 as the USSR crumbled. The then Ms Malandina met him when the Chelsea owner travelled on an Aeroflot plane when she worked as a flight attendant. Her father had died when she was two, and she grew up in poverty in the Soviet era.
During their marriage he switched from being a powerful but reclusive figure in Russia’s post-Soviet rollercoaster business and political world to becoming a household name in the West as owner of the London football club. Their life together was compared to living in a ‘gilded cage’ with security guards who formerly worked for Russian and British intelligence.
They parted on good terms in 2007 – with their divorce settlement a closely guarded secret but thought to be £150million – and did not speak ill of each other. Abramovich married his third wife, the magazine editor Dasha Zhukova, in 2008 but they divorced in 2017 and she is now with billionaire shipping heir Stavros Niarchos. Dasha had son Aaron Alexander and daughter Leah Lou with her ex-husband and said they were committed to jointly raising their children together.
Court documents filed in New York showed Abrahmovich and Zhukova finalising their divorced in 2017 showed the settlement included over £90million worth of property to Dasha – including a Manhattan mansion. More recently he has been romantically linked to ballerina Diana Vishneva.
The club has effectively been for sale ever since due to Abramovich’s conflict with the UK government after the Home Office declined to issue him a visa, with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine giving him fresh impetus to sell.
Chelsea declined to comment.
Abramovich wants a minimum of £3bn to sell Chelsea as he invites bids for the club. But there are emerging doubts that the Russian oligarch will receive anywhere near that mark.
There is a sense that securing an American buyer, potentially through a hedge fund, might be the best route towards a sale.
But Abramovich’s links with a Russian regime that has caused so much destruction in Ukraine could lead to reluctance from interested parties to deal with Chelsea.
Swiss billionaire Hansjorg Wyss, worth £4.3bn, claims he has been approached to consider buying Chelsea, potentially as part of a consortium.
‘Abramovich is trying to sell all his villas in England, he also wants to get rid of Chelsea quickly,’ Wyss told Swiss newspaper Blick.
‘I and three other people received an offer on Tuesday to buy Chelsea from Abramovich. I have to wait four to five days now.
‘Abramovich is currently asking far too much. You know, Chelsea owe him £2 billion. But Chelsea has no money. As of today, we don’t know the exact selling price.’
However, there is doubt whether a consortium style takeover would have longevity given the huge financial demands expected at a club the size of Chelsea.
Nevertheless, it is clear now that Abramovich is preparing his Chelsea exit strategy.
The Russian oligarch has spent time in the United Arab Emirates in recent weeks with a view to transferring part of his wealth there, Sportsmail understands.
But any hopes of a quick sale of Chelsea remains in the balance due to what will be a reluctance of any interested parties to go anywhere near the absolute minimum £3bn Abramovich wants.
Sources claim Abramovich believes Chelsea is worth north of £3bn – as much as £4bn – but the likelihood of receiving such offers appears remote.
It seems inevitable that the Russian businessman will have to lower his expectations, but whether anyone is willing to offer as high as the £3bn that he would consider is unclear.
Abramovich attempted to step back from the daily running of Chelsea on Saturday, in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The oligarch has tried to hand the ‘stewardship and care’ of Chelsea to the club’s charitable foundation trustees.
That led the Charity Commission to contact the Stamford Bridge club for more detail on Abramovich’s plans, after several of the trustees raised concerns over technicalities.
Labour MP Chris Bryant has called for the UK Government to impose sanctions on Abramovich after a number of Russian oligarchs have already fallen under such penalties.
Abramovich is understood to have attempted to hand control of Chelsea to the foundation trustees in a bid to protect the club.
The Chelsea owner would not receive any protection from sanctions through stepping away from daily control at Stamford Bridge.
But the club’s trustees will insist on an impenetrable indemnity policy before agreeing to Abramovich’s plan to pass over stewardship of the club to its charitable foundation.
Abramovich’s proposal, which was announced on Saturday night, is in the balance with a number of trustees extremely apprehensive about accepting stewardship of the club.
And Sportsmail has learned that one of the main conditions the trustees will insist on is the inclusion of a robust indemnity insurance policy to ensure they are not liable for any financial ramifications the club may suffer while they are put in charge.
Trustees hold a number of concerns in relation to Abramovich’s plan, which was sprung on the trustees with very little notice on Saturday night.
Conflict of interest is understood to be among the key apprehensions, while the morality of being the face of a football club and business that has been linked to the Russian regime that has invaded Ukraine is another major consideration for trustees.
However, the sheer responsibility of playing such a key role within a business that turned over £434.8m for the previous financial year is known to be the leading concern amongst a number of trustees.
Chelsea has effectively been for sale ever since due to Abramovich’s conflict with the UK government after the Home Office declined to issue him a visa, with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine giving him fresh impetus to sell
Not any more! Chelsea fans with a banner reading ‘The Roman Empire’ in a reference to the club’s owner, who transformed the team into Premier League champions
Chelsea has instructed lawyers to start building the legal framework to facilitate Abramovich’s stewardship recommendation and those individuals in line will seek a strong protection policy before agreeing.
During the interim there will be a period of status quo, which will allow trustees who include: Chelsea chairman Bruce Buck, John Devine, a partner at the law firm Muckle LLP, club director of finance Paul Ramos, women’s head coach Emma Hayes, executive director of anti-discrimination group Fare, Piara Powar, and the chairman of the British Olympic Association, Sir Hugh Robertson, time to consider whether they want to be part of the process.
Chelsea are aware of the problems they may face in convincing trustees and are said to be exploring other options.
London property empire: £200m +
Chris Bryant claim in the Commons that Abramovich is looking to sell ‘his home and a flat’ is thought to refer to his 15-bedroom mansion at Kensington Palace Gardens, valued at more than £150m, and a three-storey penthouse at Chelsea Waterfront, worth an estimated £22m.
Staff at his Kensington property, which is on the same road as several high-security embassies, were told to expect viewings, according to The Times.
Chinese buyers are said to be interested in the mansion, but a sale could be a drawn out protracted affair given the cost and due diligence agents would have to carry out.
Abramovich has become a less frequent visitor to London in recent years following issues with his entrepreneurial visa. He has Israeli and Portuguese citizenship on top of being a Russian national.
His whereabouts are not known after he was reported to be in Belarus to assist as an unlikely broker in peace talks between Russia and Ukraine on Monday.
Abramovich is said to be looking to offload his 15-bedroom mansion at Kensington Palace Gardens, valued at more than £150m
The tycoon also owns a three-storey penthouse at Chelsea Waterfront, worth an estimated £22m
Abramovich’s London property portfolio is also said to include a flat in Cheyne Terrace, Chelsea, which was purchased for £8.75million in 2017 and includes a high-tech temperature-controlled wine cellar.
It is close to three other properties that overlook the Thames, bought for £25million, that he had once intended to knock together and turn into a £100million super-home.
However Abramovich, who made his money selling assets acquired from the state following the fall of the Soviet Union, scrapped the plan and sold up after he relented to local uproar.
Abramovich became an Israeli citizen in 2018 after his British visa expired and reportedly owns most of the properties through a holding company called Fordstam
And land registry records show that since the expiration of his visa he transferred 11 properties to the business.
Sofia Abramovich, one of his daughters with second wife Irina. She recently posted an anti-Putin meme on Instagram, calling for an end to the war with Ukraine
Sofia regularly shares envy-inducing snaps on social media, which reflect her love of horses, champagne and exotic holidays
With her Instagram post earlier this week (right), 27-year-old Sofia joined a chorus of other wealthy Russian who have expressed their disgust at Putin’s actions
Abramovich has gone through three divorces. He is pictured with his first wife, Olga, who he met when he was 20 and she was a 23-year-old daughter of a high-ranking government diplomat
Abramovich’s second wife, Irina, a London-based former Aeroflot stewardess who wed the Russian tycoon in 1991. She is seen cheering on Chelsea against Tottenham in 2005
The tycoon’s third wife was the magazine editor Dasha Zhukova (left), who he was with between 2008 and 2017. They had seven children More recently he has been romantically linked to ballerina Diana Vishneva, seen on stage as Juliet in Romeo and Juliet Kirov Ballet at the Coliseum
Abramovich’s eldest daughter, Anna, 29, is a Columbia University philosophy graduate who lives in New York. She is seen at the Chinawhite Evening Party during Cartier International Polo Day 2011 in Surrey
His Kensington Gardens mansion, which originally cost him £90m, is close to the homes of steel magnate Lakshmi Mitta and billionaire business magnate Wang Jianlin.
Abramovich also owns homes in Russia, Sardinia, France, the West Indies and the US.
He lost a number of properties during his 2007 divorce from his second wife Irina, with whom he has five children, including a £30m home on the Riviera called Chateau de la Croe, as well as an estate in Sussex called Fyning Hill, which he had bought for £18million.
OTHER ASSETS
Yachts, jets and cars: £1.26bn +
Despite being highly secretive and preferring a life out of the spotlight, Abramovich has still led a glitzy lifestyle, with two superyachts worth £930m, £16m worth of luxury cars and private planes aplenty.
The billionaire recently bought a £264m Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner jet.
The 50-seater aircraft is the world’s most expensive private jet with a base cost of £188m and a rumoured £76m of additional equipment to the billionaire’s taste, Forbes reported, citing industry sources.
According to flight tracking websites, the plane was flown from Monaco to Moscow on Thursday, amid heightened speculation Abramovich was due to face sanctions. It is unclear if he was actually on board.
Meanwhile, his £50m Gulfstream G650ER jet – registration LX-Ray – took off today from Turkey headed for an unknown destination, according to unconfirmed reports from Twitter account @RuOligarchJets, run by amateur flight tracker Jack Sweeney.
In August, the Chelsea FC owner’s new £430million superyacht the Solaris was spotted for the first time at sea, off the billionaire’s playground of Antibes on the French Riviera. It is now moored in Barcelona
Roman Abramovich’s Yacht ‘Eclipse’ – which has two helipads, a submarine and three landing craft, two swimming pools and a dance floor – is pictured off Portofino in Italy on September 2, 2013
The Solaris is not as large as the Eclipse, a 533ft vessel. He has previously owned at least five other colossal yachts, with 162ft Sussurro the most recent to change hands around 2017
Eclipse
Value: £540m
Length: 533ft
Tonnage: 13,000
Top speed: 22 knots (25mph)
Cabins: At least 24 guest cabins, but dozens more for the crew
Decks: 9
Guests: 62
Crew: 70
Engines: Four MTU 20V 1163 TB93 diesel engines
Extras: Two helipads, a submarine and three landing craft, two swimming pools and a dance floor
Solaris
Value: £430m
Length: 460ft
Tonnage: 11,000
Top speed: 18 knots (20mph)
Cabins: 48
Decks: 8
Guests: 36
Crew: 60
Engines: Two Azipod electrical propellers
Extras: Helipad, swimming pool, beach club area, jacuzzi and spa
Abramovich recently bought a £264m Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner jet to add to his £930million superyacht collection and £16million worth of cars
The oligarch also owns a £50m Gulfstream G650ER jet – registration LX-Ray – which reportedly took off today from Turkey headed for an unknown destination. This is a stock picture of the same model
Abramovich has three Eurocopter helicopters, two of them that were based in England, which meant he could avoid congestion in London (seen here is a file photo of a Eurocopter)
His new Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner is understood to have been built in 2015 for PrivatAir, a Swiss airline operator, but was never handed over to the company as it filed for bankruptcy in 2018.
The plane – which replaces his Boeing 767-33AER which was valued at £128m and is currently on the market – is one of only 250 such aircraft in the world and is primarily owned and operated by major airlines.
The 787-8 is 187 feet in length, and commercial models are able to carry 223 passengers.
For those who do not own their own Boeing 787 Dreamliner like Mr Abramovich, but still wish to charter one for a flight, they can expect to pay around £56,000 ($74,000) per hour – meaning an eight-four flight from London to New York could cost around £450,000 ($600,000).
Only two such planes are thought to be privately owned – one used by Mexico’s leader as his presidential plane and the other used by UAS International Trip Support, which operates global luxury charter jet service ‘Dream Jet’.
A spokesman for Millhouse, the company that manages the 55-year-old Abramovich’s assets, declined to comment on his purchase of the Boeing 787 when contacted by MailOnline in December.
Abramovich’s jets, which have two pilots reportedly on £160,000 a year, are personalised inside with a study and supposedly a bedroom with a mirror on the ceiling.
The interior of a private Boeing 787 Dreamliner, similar to the model reportedly ordered by Roman Abramovich
A computer-graphic image of the interior of a private Boeing 787 Dreamliner – released by the manufacturer – shows a lounge space on the plane
The master bedroom of a Boeing 787 Dreamliner that is designed for private charter. The room features a king-sized bed and an in-built television. The bedroom also features an en-suite bathroom and a walk-in closet
The private charter Boeing 787 Drealiner’s en-suite bathroom. The 787-8 model has 2,300-square-foot of space
For those who do not own their own Boeing 787 Dreamliner like Mr Abramovich, but still wish to charter one for individual flights, they can expect to pay around £56,000 ($74,000) per hour – meaning an eight-four flight from London to New York could cost around £450,000 ($600,000)
Once asked if the mirror helped improve his sex life, Abramovich replied: ‘No, but it does allow me to shave in bed.’
He also had three Eurocopter helicopters, two of them that were based in England, which meant he could avoid congestion in London. The helicopter pilots were also reportedly paid around £90,000 per year.
Meanwhile, the Chelsea FC owner’s new £430m superyacht Solaris is currently moored in Barcelona’s marina. The 460ft vessel is the most costly custom-made superyacht ever built, with 48 cabins across eight decks, a crew of 60 and space for 36 guests.
Built in Bremerhaven, Germany, Solaris recently completed sea trials and was briefly berthed in Barcelona before moving across to Cape D’Ail near Monaco, and then Antibes.
It is thought to be his second superyacht after the Eclipse, a slightly longer boat which has been valued at £500m. All his guests can be accommodated in luxurious state rooms and travel between the boat’s eight decks by lift.
As well as a gym, sauna, Jacuzzi and at least one swimming pool come as standard on boats such as these and, if the Solaris is anything like the 530ft Eclipse, it will also have a beauty salon, complete with beautician and hairdresser.
In 2016, the billionaire showed off his stunning collection of cars during a public appearance at the Nurburgring race track in Germany. Pictured: A £1.6m Ferrari FXX
The second Ferrari 488 GT3 (worth at least £675,000) that is part of the Russian’s car collection. It is not known if he still owns all the cars
He also showed off a rare Pagani Zonda R, of which only 15 have ever been produced and come with a price tag of £2.5million
A Mercedes-Benz AMG GT3, worth at least £175,000, and possibly far more depending on any upgrades
A £1.5m Bugatti Veyron, which was also part of Mr Abramovich’s car collection in 2016. The German race track was closed to the public while he used it
Abramovich’s £16m fleet of motors (including one of just 15 Pagani Zonda supercars ever produced)
Pagani Zonda R – £2.5million
Porsche 911 GT1 Evo – £1.7m
Ferrari FXX – £1.6m
Bugatti Veyron – £1.5m
Aston Martin Vulcan – £1.2m
Maserati MC12 Corsa – £1.1m
Mercedes-Benz CLK GTR – £1m
2 x Maybach 62 Limousines – £1m each
Ferrari 488 GT3 – £675,000
Porsche Carrera GT – £650,000
Rolls-Royce Corniche- £600,000 (inc. £500,000 ‘VIP 1’ number plate)
Mercedes-Benz AMG GT3 – £300,000
Ferrari 360 – £120,000
Tesla Model S – £100,000
Lamborghini Reventon – £840,000
TOTAL: £16m
Eclipse has a night club with a dance floor but Solaris instead has an outdoor ‘beach club’ at the aft section of the upper deck.
Solaris has a flotilla of 20 high-speed jet-skis and at least one helicopter to ferry guests from ship to shore. And it’s expected that Abramovich will also invest in a personal submarine.
Abramovich also owns a fleet of supercars valued at more than £16million. Among the high end vehicles are a Porsche 911 GT1 Evo, a Ferrari FXX, a Aston Martin Vulcan and a Maserati MC12 Corsa.
The fleet also includes a Pagani Zonda R, of which only 15 have ever been produced and come with a price tag of £2.5m.
The incredible car collection was first shown off by Abramovich while driving with his friends at the Nurburgring race track in Germany in 2016.
Business interests: Several billion pounds
Roman Abramovich has a large shareholding in the Russian steelmaking firm whose materials experts say are used to make the military tanks which are invading Ukraine.
The Chelsea owner transferred his shares in Evraz, the London-listed Russian steelmaking giant, directly to himself from an offshore company on February 16, eight days before Vladimir Putin ordered the Ukraine invasion.
Analysts have told Sportsmail that the transfer of the 28.64% shareholding, from Virgin Islands-registered Greenleas International Holdings Ltd, could make it less vulnerable to the sanctions which have followed the invasion.
It could also make the shareholding easier to sell. The value of the shares have plummeted since Putin’s forces attacked Ukraine.
The Russian tycoon owns just under 30% of Evraz, the London-listed Russian steelmaking giant whose shares have been hammered in recent days
Greggory Kuczyński, director of the Eurasia Program at the Warsaw Institute, told Sportsmail: ‘There was a risk that this offshore company would become a subject of sanctions. Evraz steel is used to build tanks, amongst other things.
‘The company is important for the Russian arms industry, in this sense. It is important for Russia’s war plans, including with regard to Ukraine.’
A spokesperson for Abramovich said Evraz in Russia only produced steel for ‘rail and construction.’
In a 2017 document produced by Evraz as part of an investigation into steel importation in the US, Evraz said its Chicago operations produced ‘several products critical to US National Security… such as armoured plate for the US military.’
Evraz could not be reached for comment by Sportsmail.
Experts have said steel produced by Evraz has been used to make the military tanks which are invading Ukraine
The Warsaw Institute, an international relations think tank specializing in Eastern Europe, is uncertain whether Abramovich also owns shares in the Russian oil giant Rosneft, having invested nearly £225million in shares when it floated in 2006.
Rosneft is one of Russia’s largest producers of crude oil and another major supplier of its military. The Rosneft website, which includes company details, was not accessible from the UK on Tuesday.
It is understood that Abramovich has used Jewish connections in Ukraine to attempt to broker peace discussions between Russia and the country it has invaded.
Abramovich has substantial business interests in Ukraine, with an Evraz plant in the Donbass area of the country since 2010.
Abramovich can ill afford a prolonged war and sanctions designed to strangle and collapse the entire Russian economy, because he has so much invested in it.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10568287/End-Roman-empire-Abramovich-starts-firesale-London-assets.html
