Ukraine Aid From Chelsea Sale Delayed as Approval Process Drags

A foundation being set up to aid Ukraine with £2.34 billion ($2.9 billion) in proceeds from Roman Abramovich’s sale of Chelsea FC is nearly ready to go with a proposed chair lined up, but UK government approval is taking longer than expected.

“We’re ready to go and we’re just waiting for approval,” said Mike Penrose, the former Unicef UK chief executive who is acting CEO for the new foundation. “There are complexities and delays based around political approval both between the UK and the EU and within the UK.”

Penrose said his team had completed all the paperwork needed to set up the foundation, including proposing the Norwegian Refugee Council’s Secretary General Jan Egeland as chairman and an international shortlist of candidates for a seven-member board. He declined to disclose names, saying they’re all people who have been in the charity sector for a long time. Penrose said he has drawn up a shortlist of investment managers to oversee the money.

Last year, the UK government released about £200,000 to fund the legal and administrative costs of establishing the charity and hire experts to develop a plan to deploy the funds. The foundation plans to focus on humanitarian projects supporting medical, educational and shelter programs for Ukrainians, Penrose said.

Abramovich, a Russian businessman worth more than $7.5 billion according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, sold the London-based football club to a consortium led by American investor Todd Boehly in May 2022, after he was sanctioned by Britain and the European Union over his alleged links to Russia’s President Vladimir Putin.

Nearly a year on from the sale, the funds remain frozen in a UK bank account and none of them have reached Ukraine. 

A UK government statement in May last year said the proceeds would be held in a British bank account, to be “used for humanitarian purposes in Ukraine.” The UK would work with the European Commission and the Portuguese government — where Abramovich holds citizenship — to ensure compliance with sanctions and determine the destination of the proceeds, the statement added.

In November 2022, UK Foreign Office minister Leo Docherty told the House of Commons that he hoped the money “is on the start of its journey to Ukraine to help the people where they need help.”

Sourse: Bloomberg