The mayor of Londongrad has left the building
For years, Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich has quite literally made himself comfortable in London’s upper echelons of society. His £100mn-plus Kensington Palace Gardens mansion sits on land leased from the British monarchy.
But now the stately home sits empty, along with Abramovich’s Thames-side penthouse, helicopters, yachts and cars as the UK government imposed a full asset freeze and travel ban upon the businessman and six other Russian oligarchs.
Though the pitchside action continues at Abramovich’s most famous asset — Chelsea football club — the team can no longer sell as much as a ticket or a blues’ jersey at the club shop while the sanctions are in place.
The asset freeze has plunged a potential sale of Chelsea into legal limbo — with billionaire and former top Apollo Global Management executive Josh Harris among those considering taking the club off Abramovich’s hands.
UK officials said a deal couldn’t continue as planned, but that the government could consider granting a new licence to permit a disposal if Abramovich was able to demonstrate that he would not receive any of the proceeds. (Look out for more on the chaos unfolding at Chelsea in the FT’s Scoreboard newsletter tomorrow, and subscribe here if you haven’t already.)
A mansion owned by Roman Abramovich in London. On Thursday, the UK became the first country to slap sanctions on the Russian billionaire © Tolga Akmen/AFP/Getty Images
The UK government has also accused London-listed steelmaker Evraz, in which Abramovich is the largest shareholder, of “undermining and threatening the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence” of Ukraine and “potentially supplying steel to the Russian military which may have been used in the production of tanks”.
The company’s shares were quickly suspended by the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority following Thursday’s sanctions, “pending clarification of the impact”. Evraz was not directly sanctioned and denied the claims, saying it did not make steel for Russia’s military. It also sought to distance itself from Abramovich, who it did not consider “as a person exercising . . . effective control of the company” — despite him holding a 28.6 per cent stake in the steelmaker.
The UK’s crackdown on Abramovich, who was described by lawmakers as a “pro-Kremlin oligarch” that held close links to Vladimir Putin, marks a stunning departure from the billionaire’s lucrative 20-year run as the proverbial mayor of Londongrad.
Abramovich, who amassed the majority of his estimated £9bn fortune after selling oil group Sibneft to Russia’s Gazprom in 2005, has spent the past two decades being lauded by politicians, financiers and football fans as he poured wealth into London’s financial system.
For now, UK lawmakers have pulled the plug.