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Billions of pounds from the sale of Chelsea FC will go towards humanitarian causes in Ukraine, Keir Starmer has announced.
The Prime Minister told MPs this afternoon that a licence was being issued to transfer £2.5 billion of funds from the football club’s former owner Roman Abramovich.
Since the Russian oligarch sold the club in 2022, the proceeds have been held in a UK bank account amid negotiations over where they will be sent.
The sale was made with the agreement of the UK government that the money would go to Ukraine, though the details of that deal are unclear.
A Downing Street spokesperson said the billionaire ‘disputes that the fund should be used exclusively for humanitarian purposes in Ukraine, he wants to spend them more widely’.
Making the announcement during Prime Minister’s Questions today, Starmer said: ‘My message to Abramovich is this – the clock is ticking, honour the commitment that you made and pay up now.
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‘If you don’t, we’re prepared to go to court so every penny reaches those whose lives have been torn apart by Putin’s illegal war.’
Abramovich was sanctioned by Boris Johnson’s Conservative government in March 2022, less than three weeks after Vladimir Putin launched his full-scale invasion on Ukraine.
The terms of the licence dictate none of the funds from the sale can benefit him or his sanctioned comrades.
Instead, it is required to go to humanitarian causes in Ukraine while future gains can go to victims of conflict worldwide.
Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said: ‘his money was promised to Ukraine over three years ago. It is time Roman Abramovich does the right thing, but if he won’t we will act.
‘That’s why the licence has been issued. It is time this money was used to rebuild the lives of people who’ve seen devastation as a result of Putin’s illegal war.’
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