The UK government is “moving forward” on more than £2 billion from the sale of Chelsea FC being spent on humanitarian work after the devastation in Ukraine from Vladimir Putin’s war, says a minister.
Foreign Office minister Baroness Chapman of Darlington told Parliament that the Government was committed to making progress in releasing the funds.
Two peers raised the issue in the Lords about the sale of the Premier League club by Roman Abramovich more than two years ago.
Crossbencher Lord Alton of Liverpool pressed the minister: “Can she tell us what progress has been made in releasing funds to Ukraine from the £2.5 billion sale of Chelsea Football Club?”
Labour peer Lord McConnell of Glenscorrodale also stressed: “It is now over two years, nearly two and a half, since Chelsea Football Club was sold.
“Over £2 billion is sitting in an account here in London, waiting to be spent on the reconstruction and humanitarian effort not just in Ukraine but in those countries elsewhere in the world that have been affected by the situation in Ukraine, particularly in relation to food security, for example. What are we doing?”
He added: “Lord Cameron managed as Foreign Secretary to step up the action in the Foreign Office on this and was starting to work towards a goal of releasing these funds. Are the new Government as determined as he was?
“Will we see some resolution of this issue over the coming months?”
Foreign Office minister Baroness Chapman responded: “Since the start of the Russian invasion, the UK and our international partners have implemented the most severe package of sanctions ever imposed on a major economy.”
She claimed: “They are working: Putin himself has admitted that sanctions are causing a ‘colossal amount of difficulties’. Where we can do more, we will.
“Thanks to efforts by the UK and its allies, Putin faces extreme costs from the conflict.”
The minister emphasised that the UK had sanctioned more than 2,000 individuals and entities under the Russian sanctions regime, with over £22 billion of Russian assets now frozen because of UK financial sanctions.
She added: “The noble Lords, Lord McConnell and Lord Alton, asked about Chelsea FC.
“I assure noble Lords that we are committed to making progress on this.
“The money is held in an account, and it will leave that account only when we are sure it will go on humanitarian work, but we are moving forward with that.”
The sale of Chelsea for £4.25 billion to a consortium led by American investor Todd Boehly and private equity firm Clearlake Capital was completed in May 2022.
The then Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich said proceeds from the sale would be used “for the benefit of all victims of the war in Ukraine”.
He announced his decision to sell the London club in March 2022, a month after Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.
The Russian billionaire, who bought Chelsea for £140 million in 2003, has been sanctioned by the UK government in its response to Putin’s war.
The delay in releasing the money from the sale is believed to be down to a dispute over how to use the funds.
