Owner of the Chelsea club since 2003, Roman Abramovich is in the sights of the British government. Biography, fortune, Putin, Chelsea, discover everything you need to know about the Russian oligarch, accused by the BBC of having participated in several acts of corruption.
Russian oligarch, president of Chelsea and close to Vladimir Putin, Roman Abramovich has been under pressure from the British government since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. If he has already put the London club up for sale, the sanctions have fallen for the multi-billionaire: suspended sale, blocked credit card,… and the repercussions are already being felt among Chelsea players.
Roman Abramovich was born on October 24, 1966 in Saratov, USSR, now Russia. Businessman, he has several hats: oligarch, politician, multi-billionaire and former governor of the Chukotka Autonomous District from 2000 to 2008. According to Forbes, his fortune in May 2021 is estimated at 15.4 billion dollars. His investments in the cultural field and in particular painting also did not go unnoticed. But Roman Abramovich has been the president of the English club Chelsea since 2003. Since his arrival at the head of the London club, Chelsea has won the Champions League twice (2012 and 2021), the Europa League twice (2013, 2019 ), five times the Premier League (2005, 2006, 2010, 2015, 2017) and the FA Cup (2007, 2009, 2010, 2012 and 2018) in particular.
Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Russian oligarchs have been in the crosshairs of world governments, including the origin of their fortunes. Roman Abramovich is targeted by an investigation by the BBC who accuses him of having participated in several acts of corruption which would be at the origin of his fortune since the mid-1990s. Abramovich’s lawyers have already denied the allegations made by the British media.
Put under pressure in relation to his relations with the Russian government and more particularly Vladimir Putin, Roman Abramovich is one of the Russian oligarchs who brought Putin to power in 2000. Former director of the FSB (successor to the KGB), Vladimir Putin appears for the Russian oligarchs as the ideal person in order to avoid being ruled by the communist party. After being appointed Prime Minister (equivalent to Prime Minister), the Russian politician took over as interim President of the Federation when Boris Yeltsin, weakened by illness, resigned. The oligarchs, including Roman Abramovich, finance the campaign of the current president of the Russian Federation, elected in the first round of the presidential election in 2000. The relationship between the two Russians does not stop where in 2005, Sibneft, Roman Abramovich’s oil company is bought by the State for 13 billion dollars.
Since February 24, 2022 and the beginning of the Russian attacks in Ukraine, all means have been used to harm Russia or its fortunes. Putin’s best-known political opponent having survived a poisoning in 2020, Alexei Navalny had given a list of oligarchs to be sanctioned to put pressure on the country: Roman Abramovich was the first name. The English government has sanctioned the owner of Chelsea who can no longer use his credit cards until further notice. All expenses of the London club are limited, the sale is suspended, the ticket office is closed except to subscribers. Travel and hospitality expenses have a ceiling: 500,000 pounds for home games and Thomas Tuchel’s men only have 20,000 pounds to play away games. Transfers and contract management are also under seal from the UK government. Chelsea cannot sell or buy players. The 149 million pound bonus obtained last year after the club’s 4th place in the Premier League is also frozen.
After the election of Vladimir Putin in 2000, Roman Abramovich wanted to invest in Europe and in England. After spending some time across the Channel, the oligarch fell in love with football and decided to buy a club: if Manchester United was not for sale, Chelsea was. In the summer of 2003, the Blues went under the Russian flag and Roman Abramovich became the owner of the London club. If the native of Saratov seeks to sell Chelsea, the Premier League club has won 20 titles in its history out of 31 since the arrival of Abramovich (2 Champions League, 2 Europa League, 1 European Supercup, 5 Premier League , 5 FA CUP, 3 League Cup and 2 Community Shield).
In 2018, his visa to enter English territory was not renewed. Thanks to obtaining an Israeli passport in May 2018, Roman Abramovich was able to return to London and attend the draw between Chelsea and Manchester United on November 28, 2021. Since 2018, this is the only time he has handed feet in England. In April 2021, Abramovich also obtained Portuguese citizenship. A naturalization which has been the subject since January 2022 of an investigation by the Portuguese justice. As part of this case, several searches were carried out in Porto. A press release from the Portuguese public prosecutor’s office specifies that the investigation relates to facts “likely to constitute offenses of influence peddling, active corruption, falsification of documents, money laundering, tax evasion.” Daniel Litvak, chief rabbi of Porto was arrested on Thursday March 10 in Porto.