Roman Appramovich is against the British government’s request to transfer to Ukraine the proceeds from the sale of Chelsea, according to a report in The Times.

As the newspaper reports, the amount still outstanding amounts to around £2.5 billion and comes from the sale of the London club. The money is still frozen in accounts linked to the Russian businessman as part of the sanctions regime imposed by the UK.

Sources cited by the newspaper say Roman Abramovich has set up a legal team and is preparing to go to court, challenging Downing Street’s position. The Russian businessman rejects the conditions set by London, which include the transfer of the money to Ukraine, and is seeking an alternative solution to the future fate of the funds.

According to the same reports, Abramovich intends to ignore Starmer’s demands to transfer to Kiev a sum of £1.4 billion of the £2.35 billion received from the sale of Chelsea. The disbursement of the money, legal sources note, remains impossible until the prosecution is terminated by the Royal Jersey Court.

Abramovich was added to the UK sanctions list on March 10, 2022, in connection with developments in Ukraine, which led to the freezing of his assets in the country. On 24 May 2022, the Premier League board approved the sale of Chelsea to a consortium led by American businessman Todd Bailey.

Bailey’s investment scheme offered a total of £4.25 billion for the London club, of which £2.5 billion was for the club itself and £1.75 billion was committed for future investment and development. One day later, on 25 May 2022, the British government issued a special licence allowing the transaction to be completed, with the key condition that Abramovich would not personally receive the proceeds.

At the time of the Chelsea sale, the Russian businessman had stated that the money would be donated “to all victims of the war in Ukraine”, but its ultimate use remains to this day the subject of political and legal controversy.