The British government is giving Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich one final chance to hand over more than $3 billion in promised money for victims of the war in Ukraine.
Abramovich was forced to sell his Chelsea football club in 2022 after being sanctioned for ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin. He then pledged to use the money from the sale to set up a charity for war victims, but has yet to fulfill that pledge.
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U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Wednesday the government is now ready to use legal avenues to enforce that commitment.
"I can announce that we're issuing a license to transfer 2.5 billion pounds from the sale of Chelsea Football Club that's been frozen, those funds, since 2022," Starmer said. "My message to Abramovich is this: the clock is ticking. Honor the commitment that you made and pay up now."
"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," Starmer added.
It remains unclear whether Abramovich will comply. He has argued the funds should go to all victims of the war — including Russians — while the British government insists they be used solely for humanitarian causes in Ukraine.
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The disagreement has stalled progress for three years. Abramovich, whose assets are sanctioned, cannot move or spend the money. The government also cannot force him to give it away because it remains his property.
However, officials now say the courts could potentially compel Abramovich to spend the money where the government wants. The move would be unprecedented in the U.K. legal system, and the mechanism for forcing a sanctioned individual to allocate funds remains unclear.
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