The British Prime Minister demands that Russian tycoon Roman Abramovich hand over the price for which he sold Chelsea to Ukraine, otherwise the United Kingdom will take legal action, he warned this Wednesday, December 17th.
Keir Starmer’s position was made known in the House of Commons, where he announced that he had given instructions for the procedures aimed at transferring 2.5 billion pounds (around 2.8 billion euros) from the sale of Chelsea, in May 2022, to support humanitarian causes in Ukraine.
“I can announce that we are issuing a license to transfer £2.5 billion from the sale of Chelsea which has been frozen since 2022,” Starmer said.
Before the deputies, the prime minister left a warning to the Russian billionaire, who also has Portuguese nationality – under a regime that covered descendants of Portuguese Sephardic Jews. “My message to Abramovich is this: time is running out, honor the commitments you’ve made and pay now.”
If Roman Abramovich fails to do so, he will face British justice, promised Keir Starmer. “We are prepared to go to court, so that every penny reaches those whose lives were destroyed by Putin’s illegal war”, argued the prime minister, cited by the British media.
O The Guardian explains that Abramovich, the target of sanctions due to the war carried out by Russia, sold the English emblem in 2022 at a time when he was under pressure from the British government, following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. He obtained a license from the Government to sell the club, as long as the value of the deal went to the victims of the war in Ukraine, which has been ongoing for almost four years.