Half of the proceeds from the sale of Chelsea could go to Abramovich's companies instead of helping Ukraine

This was reported by The Moscow Times with reference to The Times.

According to the report, only ‘net income’ will be transferred to the charitable foundation after the debt obligations of the club, previously owned by Roman Abramovich, have been settled.

Loans issued by Abramovich's structures for £1.54 billion must be repaid before the proceeds from the sale of the football club can be transferred to Ukraine. The documents do not indicate that Abramovich intends to write off the loans he used to finance Chelsea's activities for two decades.

Fordstam's reports for the financial year ending in June 2022, signed on 10 October 2025, state: ‘The intention of Fordstam Limited owner Roman Abramovich, as publicly stated, is to transfer the net proceeds from the sale — after settling all balance sheet items — to a charitable foundation set up to help victims of the war in Ukraine. The company will then be liquidated.’

Fordstam's accounts show that it owes £1.429 billion to Camberley International Investments (Jersey), which is owned by Abramovich. This means that only £923 million can be used to help Ukrainian victims in the future.

Three and a half years after the sale of the club, the charity has yet to receive any significant sums due to a dispute between Abramovich and the British government over the distribution of the money.

Kieran Maguire, an expert in sports finance at the University of Liverpool, told The Times: "Expectations that the entire proceeds from the sale of Chelsea would go to victims of the war in Ukraine have proved to be overly optimistic. Slow progress in the distribution of funds, caused by claims related to Abramovich's structures and debt obligations to his offshore company, could result in the actual amount being much lower than expected — if it is paid at all."

All funds received from the deal in May 2022 remain frozen in the bank account of Fordstam, the former parent company of Chelsea, owned by Abramovich.

Fordstam's net assets cannot be transferred either to repay loans or to a charitable foundation without the permission of the Office of Financial Sanctions Enforcement (OFSI).

Source: Economic Pravda