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Russian Oligarch Roman Abramovich’s Two Superyachts Are Sailing Towards Each Other in the Mediterranean

Ship tracking platforms show that the billionaire’s yachts "eclipse" and "solaris" are relocating to the mediterranean, with no port destination specified., emma reynolds, emma reynolds's most recent stories.

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Russian oligarch and billionaire Roman Abramovich is on the move—and so are his superyachts.

After being slapped with sanctions in response to Russia ’s invasion of Ukraine, the billionaire was last seen on March 14 at an airport in Israel, where he has dual citizenship, according to Reuters .

Abramovich, who is currently worth an estimated $7.1 billion, according to Forbes , appears to be moving his yachts to safer waters. His 533-foot superyacht Eclipse , normally anchored year-round in the Caribbean, has been sailing east towards the Mediterranean since February 21, according to global ship tracking platform MarineTraffic. As of Wednesday, the ship is located off the coast of Algeria and is still sailing east with no port destination specified. The yacht, estimated to be worth over $600 million, is one of the largest and most expensive in the world , and seems to be cruising towards Abramovich’s other yacht, Solaris , in the Ionian Sea.

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Roman Abramovich’s “Solaris” superyacht.  Courtesy of Lloyd Werft

The 461-foot Solaris  is currently located in the Ionian Sea off the western coast of Greece and heading south. Solaris was most recently at a port in Barcelona, where it had reportedly been receiving repairs since late 2021 . The ship left without declaring a destination. However, it’s possible both Solaris and Eclipse are heading towards each other and are even eyeing ports in Israel where Abramovich is considered safe from sanctions.

Though a long-time ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Abramovich has denied having close ties to the Kremlin. This hasn’t stopped dozens of nations, including the US, UK and several EU countries, from implementing sanctions and asset freezes on the oligarch. The sanctions are part of a concerted multinational effort to pressure Russia’s wealthiest and most powerful individuals to help bring Russia’s war on Ukraine to an end.

Perhaps sensing the economic pressures to come, Abramovich made headlines just days after the Ukraine invasion for stating his intention to sell his beloved Chelsea Football Club in London for $2.5 billion. The billionaire said all proceeds would benefit Ukrainian refugees and “victims of the war,” which, notably, may also include Russian soldiers.

Russian oligarch and Chelsea Football Club owner Roman Abramovich appears to be seeking cover from international sanctions in Israel, where he has dual citizenship.  Associated Press

Russians own up to 10 percent of the world’s megayachts, so Abramovich is just one of many Russian billionaires who are moving their assets to avoid seizure by international authorities. This week, Italian police seized Russian oligarch Andrey Melnichenko’s 486-foot Sailing Yacht A, and earlier this month, France impounded the yacht Amore Vero , owned by Russian oil billionaire Igor Sechin. Other Russian billionaires have had their yachts impounded in other EU countries.

This isn’t the first time Russian oligarchs’ whereabouts have been made public. Florida teen Jack Sweeney, who once tracked Elon Musk’s jet, created a Twitter account —@RUOligarchJets—dedicated to tracking the private jets of Russian oligarchs, which is updated daily.

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Roman Abramovich’s $1bn five-yacht fleet revealed

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Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.

Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich owns or is linked to a collection of five yachts estimated to be worth almost $1bn, including several vessels whose ownership remained secret until this week.

A Financial Times investigation into the billionaire’s assets has lifted the veil of secrecy he maintains over his wealth, even after the UK and EU imposed sanctions on him following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine for his allegedly close relationship with President Vladimir Putin.

Authorities in the UK and EU are attempting to identify all of the assets owned by sanctioned oligarchs. Abramovich was already widely reported to be the owner of Solaris and Eclipse — worth $474mn and $437mn, respectively, according to yacht data service VesselsValue. But the FT revealed this week that he also owns Halo and Garçon, which are both moored in Antigua.

The Antiguan government was unaware of the ownership of the boats docked on the island before inquiries from the FT, highlighting the scale of the challenge UK and EU authorities face in enforcing sanctions.

Tom Keatinge, director of the Centre for Financial Crime and Security Studies at the Royal United Services Institute think-tank said governments, banks and other institutions trying to enforce sanctions had to navigate a world where “ownership trails run cold and morph into a haze of front companies, nominees and cut-outs”.

Halo and Garçon are valued at $38mn and $20mn, respectively, and are now at risk of being seized.

In a letter to the British high commissioner to Barbados regarding the yachts, Antiguan minister of foreign affairs Paul Chet Greene said the island would “provide full assistance to the government of the United Kingdom” if it receives a request under the two nations’ Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty.

The letter noted that Antigua had requested information on the company that owns the two boats — British Virgin Islands-registered Wenham Overseas Limited — after “persistent allegations by the Financial Times that the vessels could be owned by Mr Roman Abramovich”.

In response, the British high commission provided Antiguan authorities with a letter, seen by the FT, “from the Financial Investigation Agency of the British Virgin Islands which states the beneficial owner of Wenham Overseas Ltd is Roman Abramovich”.

The letter also shows the billionaire’s address in Switzerland is listed simply as “Immeuble, Gatzby Le Magnifique”, which translates as “The Great Gatsby Building”.

Keatinge described the UK’s ability to demand full ownership information of companies registered in any of its overseas territories or crown dependencies as its “most powerful global weapon” in combating financial secrecy.

However, he asked: “How much is that weapon being used?”

A person with knowledge of Abramovich’s boat collection and documents seen by the FT indicate that the oligarch may also still be the owner of Sussurro, the first yacht he bought in 1998, despite reports he had given it to an ex-wife in a divorce.

The person who correctly identified the two yachts in Antigua as belonging to Abramovich told the FT the oligarch still owned Sussurro.

The vessel’s owner is listed in maritime registers as Vesuvius International Limited in the British Virgin Islands. BVI documents show this company was deregistered there in 2017. Another Vesuvius International was registered in Jersey the same year.

The owner of Jersey-based Vesuvius International is listed as Wotton Overseas Holdings Limited. This entity — which shifted from the BVI to Jersey in 2017 — is also the owner through a subsidiary of a helicopter that has been photographed landing on Abramovich’s Solaris several times.

Maritime tracking services show Sussurro, which means “whisper” in Italian and is valued at $11mn, is moored in La Ciotat in the south of France — the same port where the French government last month seized a $116mn superyacht belonging to a company tied to Igor Sechin, head of Russian oil group Rosneft.

Sussurro’s management company is Blue Ocean Management, a Cyprus-based company that also manages Le Grand Bleu, a 113-metre superyacht that Abramovich reportedly gave to his business associate Eugene Shvidler.

The UK placed Shvidler under sanctions last week.

The letter from the BVI’s financial investigation agency to its British counterparts also reveals that the owner of Le Grand Blue — Ashchurch Holdings Limited — is owned by “Zarui Shvidler”. Shvidler’s wife is commonly known as Zara Shvidler.

VesselsValue pegged Le Grand Bleu’s market value in a range of $110mn-$130mn, noting that the boat had last been tracked this week in the Caribbean Sea off the coast of Puerto Rico.

Representatives for Abramovich and Shvidler did not respond to requests for comment.

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Roman Abramovich’s Yachts: Everything You Want To Know

You may be familiar with the jet setting lifestyle of Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich, owner of the Chelsea football club, who has an estimated net worth of over $8 billion. He’s not just rich, he’s a man who loves yachts and loves them a lot. Not only does he own the Eclipse, the most expensive yacht in the world, he owns 15 other yachts that we know of. Clearly this is a man who enjoys ship life. Other Russian oligarchs like private jets, Abramovich likes private boats.

Up until 2023 it was believed Abramovich owned a mere 6 vessels, but new information bumps that number up significantly. Let’s take a look at some of the most notable examples of the vessels in the fleet and what we know about them.

The Eclipse Yacht

Roman Abramovich has the distinction of owning the most expensive yacht in the world, the Eclipse. It was built in Hamburg by Blohm and Voss in 2010 and was recently seen in Turkey where it is likely avoiding international sanctions against Russian billionaires which would confiscate the vessel.

How Expensive is the Roman Abramovich Yacht Eclipse?

The superyacht Eclipse is obviously the flagship of Abramovich’s fleet and it’s believed the initial construction price was $427 million. Though that’s obviously very expensive it wouldn’t technically make this the most expensive yacht in the world. However, rumor has it that Abramovich had custom additions put on the yacht including a security system fit for a small army, which boosted the total cost to $1.5 billion.

How Big is the Eclipse Yacht

For some years, the Eclipse was the world’s largest yacht at 533-feet. Other yachts have since surpassed that length but obviously it’s still an absolutely enormous vessel. It has a gross tonnage of 13,000 GT and a beam of just over 72 feet. It is the largest vessel Abramovich owns.

How Fast is the Eclipse Yacht?

It’s believed the Eclipse has a top speed of about 22 knots. This is provided by four MTU 20V 1163 TB93 diesel engines.

What is the Eclipse Like on the Inside?

The interior of the Eclipse is well guarded and not many people have been on board. That said, there are some things we do know about the vessel and what Abramovich has had installed. To start with, the yacht has not one but two helicopter landing pads. It also has its own mini submersible and previously it had been reported that there were 3 landing boats but now we know that he has 8 support vessels of various kinds for the yacht.

There are quarters to house as many as 70 crew members making this yacht essentially a private cruise ship in terms of staffing and amenities. There is room for 36 guests as well.

It is rumored that the yacht has two swimming pools on board including one that is nearly 50 feet long, plus several hot tubs scattered throughout. The large pool has a retractable glass sunroof. The 18 guest rooms are said to contain full home 6-foot cinema screens for private viewings. For a group experience, the bow of the ship is also a cinema with a massive screen. Each guest room, of which there are 24, has its own jacuzzi and private security system.

There are spas on board and a disco as well, and unusual amenities like a full size pantry and gullwing doors that pull up to reveal a barbecue and pizza oven. The yacht’s guests can also enjoy an 830 square foot gym, massage room, beauty salon, beach club, sauna and portholes that offer a view inside the large pool. There’s even a wood-burning fire pit on the main deck for campfires. 

The ceiling in the 5,000 square foot master suite opens like a retractable dome in a sports stadium to give passengers a view of the night sky if they so desire.

The security on Eclipse is one of the things that gets talked about a lot and what is known about it is impressive. To start, the glass is all bulletproof. The hull is armor plated to prevent damage from direct attacks. There is an anti-paparazzi system installed which prevents digital cameras from taking photos when they’re aimed at the vessel, which is why you’ll see so few photos of it when it’s in use. Finally, there’s a sophisticated missile detection system that is able to detect missile attacks and launch its own counter attacks. So, yes, this yacht apparently has missile launchers on board, something usually reserved for military vessels.

What Other Yachts or Launch Boats Does Abramovich Own?

Journalists recently discovered that the Russian billionaire owns 16 yachts , about 10 more than previously known. Eight of these vessels are support ships for the Eclipse which was previously thought to just have three launch boats as support. These are the remaining 7.

The second most expensive yacht in Abramovich’s fleet, Solaris is 458 feet long, 11,011 tons and had a reported price tag of $475 million. Other sources say this is actually a $600 million vessel. It has room for 36 passengers in 18 cabins as well as crew quarters to handle up to 60 crew members at a time. These are just estimates based on the size and design of the yacht, however, as Abramovich is notoriously private when it comes to secure matters like these. This large yacht may have swimming pools inside and other amenities but little has been published in any yacht report about those features.

The top speed of the yacht is listed at 18 to 20 knots with a cruising speed of 14 knots and it features not just a pool but a helicopter landing pad on deck. Propulsion is provided by the largest ABB Azipod propulsion package ever used in a private yacht.

It’s said to contain over 2,000 square meters of glass including the largest panes ever used in a superyacht. 

The yacht, at last report, was moored in Turkey where it is not subject to international sanctions that have been levied against the Russian oligarch.

This would be Abramovich’s third most expensive yacht coming in at $38 million and 180 feet long. Designed by Amels, it is sometimes available for charter and can house 12 guests and 13 crew in its quarters. The yacht has a top speed of 15.5 knots and a range of 4,500 nautical miles The cruising speed is 13 knots.

The Garcon is actually larger than the Halo but costs less. It reportedly had a $20 million price tag but clocked in at 220 feet. Made by Damen Yachting, this is sometimes used as a support vessel as it was by its previous owner. It has space for 21 people in total.

The Garcon is a much faster yacht than some of its size, powered by 4 Caterpillar engines, that can reach 25 knots at full throttle. Normal cruising speed is 18 knots.

This is a $1 million Bluegame yacht that measures just a fraction of his larger boats, coming in at 40 feet.

Little is known about this particular yacht other than it measures 80 feet and was reported to have cost Abramovich $3 million.

This 162-foot, $11 million yacht has been moored in La Ciotat on the French Riviera since 2022. It was built in 1998 and features a 27.5 foot beam.  The vessel is powered by Paxman + Textron engines which produce 3442 hp each giving Sussurro a maximum speed of 46 knots and a cruising speed of 20 knots making it one of the fastest yachts of its size in the world.

Moored in the Netherlands, this yacht measures 164-foot and reportedly cost $30 million. Powered by MTU diesel engines the vessel has a top speed of 23 knots. There is room on board for 12 guests in 5 staterooms, as well as a crew of 9.

The Bottom Line

Roman Abramovich owns the world’s most expensive yacht, the Eclipse, as well as many other yachts that, until recently, were hidden assets. Because of international sanctions against Russian oligarchs due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, many of his yachts are subject to seizure in various countries so ownership of them was hard to determine. Even now it’s speculated he may own many others.

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SOLARIS Yacht – Exquisite $600M Superyacht

The SOLARIS yacht was newly launched in 2021 by Lloyd Werft.

At 139.7 meters (458 ft), SOLARIS is considered an absolute giant in the world of superyachts and ranks as the 15th largest in the world.

SOLARIS yacht interior

No official photos of the interior of the SOLARIS yacht have been released, so the exact design is unknown.

However, judging from the minimalist and modern layout of the decks, it can be assumed that the interior follows a similar trend.

The German designer Frank Neubelt is said to have worked on the interior of SOLARIS, although details of the project are unknown.

The yacht is one of the largest in the world, so it comes as no surprise that the SOLARIS yacht can accommodate an impressive 36 guests onboard.

Around 60 crew members find space in the cabins below deck and are available to tend to every need of the passengers.

The yacht also features a large gym, spa, and several salons to host events and welcome guests.

MY SOLARIS Specifications

MY SOLARIS was built in 2021 by the German shipyard Lloyd Werft and became the largest vessel they had ever delivered.

The total length of the yacht is 139.7 meters (458 ft) which makes her 23 meters (75 ft) shorter than Abramovic’s other famous yacht, ECLIPSE.

Her beam is 21.35 meters (70 ft), and her draft measures 5.95 meters (19.6 ft). Her total weight lies at 11,247 tons.

The SOLARIS yacht is powered by six MTU engines which allow her to travel at an average cruise speed of 18 knots with top speeds of 20 knots.

SOLARIS yacht exterior

The exterior of MY SOLARIS was designed by Marc Newson Ltd , an Australian industrial designer who has worked in several industries, including aircraft, furniture, and clothing.

His work is easily recognizable by smooth lines and rounded shapes with geometric elements.

The SOLARIS yacht is a prime example of this with its sleek look, rounded balconies, and many windows. Her eight decks have an unusually light wood that decorates the many open spaces of the vessel.

There are several extendable platforms to release tenders and toys and a large beach club located close to the swimming platform.

Of course, SOLARIS includes a full-size helipad as well as several swimming pools, one of which is located on the largest of the decks aft of the vessel.

SOLARIS yacht price

Yacht SOLARIS was delivered to Abramovic for a reported price of US $600 million, placing her among the most expensive superyachts in the world.

She generates a further US $50 – $60 million in annual running costs.

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Roman Abramovich’s Yacht Fleet Past & Present

Say what you want about the elite, but you can’t help but marvel and low-key admire their spending habits when it comes to luxury toys. While Roman Abramovich might only be Russia’s 12th richest man (with a net worth of 9.8 billion USD), he’s undoubtedly the one you’ve heard the most about.

A fortune that began with a toy doll company, Abramovich and his now ex-wife used its success as a catalyst to world domination through everything from oil to consumer goods.

Among his arsenal of past and present superyachts, the billionaire tycoon also owns a private Boeing 767 and Gulfstream G650, while his ex-wife Irina took the Dassault Falcon 900 during their divorce settlement.

The pricetags below of these Roman Abramovich yachts – past and present – are in Australian dollars.

A Complete List of Roman Abramovich’s Yachts

Sussurro – $146 million.

Rumour has it that Sussurro is now owned by his ex-wife by way of a divorce settlement, and is rarely used regardless as it is almost always docked in Antibes.

ECSTASEA – $154 MILLION

Ecstasea is one of the fastest large yachts around, with an impressive 43,000 horsepower at a length of 86 metres.

LUNA – $386 MILLION

This 115-metre monstrosity boasts dual helipads and was built by Lloyd Werft at Stahlbau Nord Shipyards. The world’s second largest expedition yacht, the LUNA was sold to Abramovich’s friend and Azerbaijani billionaire Farkhad Akhmedov for 240 million Euro in 2014.

PELORUS – $386 MILLION

Clocking in at the same length and a very similar price tag, the Pelorus was built in 2003 by Lurssen and was briefly owned by a Saudi businessman before being sold to Abramovich the year after.

Optimised for long distance cruising, the Pelorus is without a doubt the sleekest of the tycoon’s line-up, with this vessel capable of 6000 nautical miles at 16 knots in a single voyage. Pelorus is now owned by Hong Kong businessman Samuel Tak Lee.

ECLIPSE – $643 MILLION

There’s no way Roman Abramovich could part from his flagship superyacht and the world’s largest by length at 163.5 metres. Known as the 1.5 billion dollar superyacht, Eclipse’s original cost price was realistically no more than 500 million USD.

Built in total secrecy by Blohm + Voss of Hamburg to custom request from Roman, Eclipse sports bulletproof windows, an advanced missile detection system and a provision to escape via submarine located at the bottom end of the yacht. Bond villain gadgets aside, its other amenities are things such as dual swimming pools and 20 jet skis.

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How many yachts does Roman Abramovich own?

Roman Abramovich owns five yachts named Sussurro, Ecstasea, Luna, Pelorus, and Eclipse

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Roman Abramovich’s yachts are worth $1.7 billion

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Motor yacht Luna 115m delivered to Abramovich

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The world’s largest expedition yacht 115m Luna has been delivered to its new owner Russian billionaire Roman Arkadyevich Abramovich.

Roman Abramovich arrived at Kristiansand, Norway, to take delivery of the 115m motor yacht, which is the latest addition to Abramovich's personal fleet.

The Luxury expedition superyacht Luna was built in Germany by Lloyd Werft and Stahlbau Nord Shipyards and launched in late 2009, becoming the second largest yacht to be launched in 2009, after Eclipse.

Luna’s exterior styling has been done by Newcruise Design. The yacht features two helipads facing forward and to the rear around the large communications tower. Luna is equipped with transom doors at the sides, which lead directly to yacht's tenders.

A covered swimming pool and sunbathing areas are featured at the large, open aft deck, with a dedicated open luxury leisure area featuring a beach club leading down to the swim platform. Luna enables the owner to cruise greater distances without having to stop or refuel.

Abramovich is currently the third richest man in Russia and the 50th richest man in the world according to the 2010 Forbes list, with an estimated fortune of $11.2 billion. Abramovich has become the world's greatest spender on luxury yachts, and had been linked to five boats.

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From ‘Solaris’ to ‘Eclipse’, comparing Roman Abramovich’s yachts by size and amenities

If one has to get a glimpse of what money can buy, the yachts of Roman Abramovich would perhaps be an excellent indicator. The Chelsea football club owner is renowned for his love of some of the world’s most beautiful sailing vessels whose majestic interiors can rival those of European palaces.

Roman Abramovich can buy any number of ships or yachts he wants. After all, Forbes estimates his net worth at around US$14.6 billion (or RM68 billion as of 31 August, 2021).

Besides Chelsea FC, the Russian-origin Israeli citizen has stakes in steel giant Evraz and mining company Norilsk Nickel. In 2005, Abramovich made US$13 billion (RM54 billion) by selling his 73 percent stake in the Russian oil firm, Sibneft, to Gazprom.

Abramovich was the governor of the Chukotka region in the Russian Far East from 2001 to 2013. During the period, he spent US$2.5 billion (RM10.4 billion) on the development of the region.

The billionaire’s fascination with gigantic luxury yachts is a reflection of the automotive toys , ranging from supercars to some of the swankiest private jets, the ultra-rich love to splurge on .

While Abramovich’s fleet will soon have a new member, Solaris , the current crown jewel among his vessels is Eclipse — one of the world’s three largest yachts. There are others, which he either owns or has sold off.

The boats are examples of excellent design. They are sleek, powerful, easily manoeuvrable, well-balanced and technologically advanced.

Roman Abramovich is only 54 years old and consistently adding to his wealth from investments and ownerships. While he narrows down to his future spectacle, let’s take a look at some of the past and present gems of his private collection of superyachts.

Roman Abramovich’s superyachts ranked by size and amenities: 

( Main and Featured images: Feadship )

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• Le Grand Bleu

Superyacht Solaris is close to completion and will be Roman Abramovich’s new craft on the waters once it is launched. Though not much is known about the boat, the Solaris was photographed during the second of its sea trials in the North Sea and attracted media attention.

SuperYacht Times reports that the Solaris is designed by Australian interior designer Marc Newson and built by Lloyd Werft, a German shipyard. It has a helipad and outdoor beach club setup at the stern (rear of a sailing craft). It also has a swimming pool.

It has two nine megawatts Azipods, which, according to SuperYacht Times , are the most powerful ever fitted on a yacht. The Solaris has eight decks, and it can reportedly accommodate a staff of 60 and 36 passengers in its 18 super luxurious cabins. It is estimated to cost US$600 million (RM2.5 billion).

Nonetheless, the Solaris , which measures around 140 metres, is not the largest yacht in Abramovich’s armada — that credit goes to Eclipse .

The superyacht Eclipse measures a massive 162.5 metres. Abramovich bought the ship in 2010 and is still in his possession. The most unique feature of the Eclipse is that it has a missile detection system, and the master suite has bulletproof windows.

Designed by Terry Disdale and made by German shipbuilder Blohm+Voss, it took about five years to build the Eclipse . It was the world’s biggest yacht till the 180-metre-long superyacht Azzam , which is owned by UAE President Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, took away the crown in 2013.

The Eclipse is a technological marvel. One of its two swimming pools can be used as a dance floor by bringing up the granite floor at deck level with the touch of a button. It can carry three helicopters at the same time — one each on its two helipads and one in the hangar below the foredeck. It has a submarine, which can dive to a depth of around 50 metres.

The giant vessel has nine decks with a range of luxurious services to opt from. The Eclipse features many amenities — including a cinema hall and a sauna — that one can expect in a superyacht. The Eclipse cost Roman Abramovich US$590 million (RM2.4 billion) at the time of purchase, and its beach house style interiors showcase the finest in Art Deco, lending it a timeless feel.

The Eclipse is powerful. It can attain a maximum speed of 21 knots and travel 6,000 nautical miles on a full tank. The yacht can house up to 36 guests in its 18 cabins and needs 70 people for operations.

It underwent a refit in 2015. Reports indicate that it is still counted among the priciest yachts of the world with a valuation ranging between US$600 million (RM2.48 billion) to US$1.5 billion (RM6.2 billion).

Before Eclipse became a prized possession of Roman Abramovich, it was this 112.8-metre luxury yacht which was the finest in his collection. Built in 2000 by now-bankrupt German shipbuilder Bremer Vulkan, it has 10 guest cabins which can house 20 guests. It has a crew of 35 supporting operations.

Abramovich bought the Le Grand Bleu from its previous owner US telecommunications baron John McCaw. The Chelsea FC owner then had it remodified, adding a pool measuring 5 metres. In 2006, the billionaire sold it to his friend, oil tycoon Eugene Shvidler, who is its current owner.

The Le Grand Bleu comes with its own fleet of smaller boats, a landing craft and two 11-metre sports boats. It was in the news in 2017 when some tourists were unable to see the Statue of Liberty because the superyacht blocked the view.

The Ecstasea was designed by De Voogt Naval Architects and built at The Feadship Royal Van Lent Shipyard in the Netherlands in 2004. According to Superyacht Times , the yacht measures 85.95 metres and has four MTU engines alongside one General Electric engine. The combined power gives the Ecstasea an incredible top speed of around 33 knots.

It has state of art rooms designed in Asian decor by Terence Disdale, and an array of luxurious amenities accentuate its plush eight cabins. The Ecstasea is designed for the stay of 15 occupants, with a supporting squad of 27 to man the boat.

It also has a helipad at the front, where the platform can be lowered and doors on either side can be closed over the helipad to turn it into a hangar.

The Ecstasea was sold by Abramovich in 2009.

The Sussurro was designed for speed. According to its maker, Feadship, the machine, which was built in 1998, has two Paxman diesels and twin TF40 gas turbines that power three water jets. The combined 15,000 HP can take the all-aluminium craft to a top speed of 46 knots — enough to ensure that the owner can reach remote diving spots quickly.

De Voogt Naval Architects and Don Shead were responsible for its exterior design. Terence Disdale did the interiors, which look like a mix of culturally infused objects he has collected during his travels to places in Africa and Asia, such as Zulu and Bali, respectively.

Lightweight to near-weightless materials have been used to make the total weight of the boat within prescribed limits to meet the speed factor. The 162.5-metre-long Sussurro can accommodate 12 guests in its six cabins. It also has five cabins for 12 supporting staff to operate the boat.

Abramovich had bought it from its original Middle-Eastern owner. According to a November 2020 report by Boat International , Sussurro is currently valued at around US$22 million (RM91 million) only.

Measuring 115 metres, Luna was built at Lloyd Werft and delivered to Roman Abramovich in 2010. While its exteriors were designed by German ship designer Newcruise, the Luna ’s tasteful interiors have been done by Donald Starkey.

Known as an “explorer yacht”, its steel hull can cut through ice floes. It has two helipads, a covered swimming pool, a beach club that goes down to the swim platform and designated areas for sunbathing.

The Luna has nine decks. It can accommodate a 50-member crew and take up to 18 guests in its nine staterooms. It has two diesel electric engines that give it a top speed of around 22 knots.

When it was delivered to Abramovich, he took it for a cruise with his family around the Kristiansand Archipelago.

Azerbaijani businessman Farkhad Akhmedov bought it from Abramovich for about US$300 million (RM1.24 billion) in 2014. Then, it underwent a refit for an estimated US$50 million (RM207 million). Today, it is at the centre of the divorce case between Akhmedov and his former wife Tatiana Akhmedova.

Currently owned by billionaire and Hong Kong property tycoon Samuel Tak Lee, Pelorus was originally commissioned for a Saudi Arabian businessman who quickly sold it to Abramovich in 2003.

Pelorus has two Wärtsilä engines and can reach a top speed of 20 knots. It can house 18 guests in nine cabins and requires around 40 people for maintenance and operations.

Measuring 115 metres in length, the Pelorus was built at the Krogerwerft shipyard of German shipbuilder Lurssen. Its exterior has been designed by Tim Heywood while Disdale’s style is evident from the interiors, which exudes a luxurious beach house vibe.

Heywood made the best use of the size of the vessel and built two helipads, two swimming pools, a lido and a transom that opens to form a sea-level platform. The master suite has a private deck that can’t be seen from any part of the Pelorus .

Abramovich had once lent the vessel to Chelsea FC players John Terry and Frank Lampard after the club’s English Premier League win. Additionally, Terry took his wife Toni on their honeymoon on the Pelorus in 2007.

In 2011, American film mogul David Geffen purchased the Pelorus for US$300 million (RM1.24 billion). Geffen then sold it the same year for US$214 million (RM888 million) to a royal family in the UAE.

Manas Sen Gupta

Manas Sen Gupta writes at the intersection of tech, entertainment and history. His works have appeared in publications such as The Statesman, Myanmar Matters, Hindustan Times and News18/ETV. In his spare time, Manas loves studying interactive charts and topographic maps. When not doing either, he prefers reading detective fiction. Spring is his favourite season and he can happily eat a bowl of noodles any time of the day.

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Inside Roman Abramovich's rise from college dropout and Red Army conscript to rubber-duck trader, billionaire oligarch, and wartime peace envoy

• Roman Abramovich is Russia's most recognizable oligarch.
• He's come to the forefront in recent weeks for his role in peace talks between Russia and Ukraine.
• Here Insider charts his rise from college dropout to billionaire oligarch and wartime peace envoy.

Roman Abramovich's career in business had inauspicious beginnings. The college dropout and former Red Army conscript started out trading rubber ducks , car tires, and dolls, having moved on from a short stint working as a mechanic .

But Abramovich soon found himself in the right place at the right time. It was the late 1980s, and the Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev was seeking to transfer power from the dusty state-run corporations of old to the private sector, through the "perestroika" reforms that would transform the country's economy and political machinery.

Abramovich pounced on the opportunity and ultimately became one of Russia's richest oligarchs, worth an estimated $14 billion today.

He once told The Guardian that money "cannot buy you happiness," though he noted that it can get you "some independence."

Abramovich is Russia's most recognizable oligarch, in large part because he's owned Chelsea Football Club, a top-flight London soccer team, for nearly two decades.

He's also recognised for his extravagance. He amassed a UK property portfolio, including vast mansions in the exclusive London neighborhood of Kensington, worth an estimated 250 million pounds, or about $325 million. He owns two of the world's most expensive superyachts: the $600 million Solaris and the $700 million Eclipse. He has several private jets, including a Gulfstream , as well as a helicopter and a number of luxury cars .

Abramovich has contended that his story is "uniquely Russian."

Of late, Abramovich's public profile has been enhanced further by two occurrences. First, he was sanctioned by the European Union and the UK in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Second, he acted as something of an envoy in peace talks between Russia and Ukraine — which brought him some positive press while Western officials were seizing his trophy assets.

These occurrences encapsulated the confused thinking around Abramovich. Is he one of the good guys — a regular Russian who made it big? Or is he one of the bad guys — a run-of-the-mill businessman who got lucky with perestroika and was then only too happy to cozy up to Vladimir Putin?

Roman Arkadyevich Abramovich was born in Saratov , a port on the Volga River in southwest Russia, on October 24, 1966. He was orphaned at the age of 2 when his mother died of blood poisoning and his father was killed in a construction-crane accident. Abramovich spent much of his childhood living with his uncle in Komi, in northern Russia.

"To tell the truth, I cannot call my childhood bad," Abramovich told The Guardian in 2006. "In your childhood you can't compare things: One eats carrots, one eats candy, both taste good. As a child, you cannot tell the difference."

He is of Russian-Jewish origin, and the UK says he's a citizen of Russia, Portugal, and Israel. He's thought to have married and divorced three times and have fathered seven children. He doesn't give many interviews.

Outside of business, in the 2000s, he served as governor of Chukotka, a deprived area in eastern Russia. He spent eight years there bankrolling schools and hospitals with his own money and set up a charity that took Chukotka's children on annual vacations. He made a $30 million donation to Tel Aviv University, which it used to build the Roman Abramovich Building for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology. He's the second-largest donor to the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial Museum in Jerusalem.

His big break in business came in 1995, when he bought Sibneft, a Russian state-owned energy company, for about $250 million. The auction for Sibneft was almost certainly rigged in Abramovich's favor. Ten years later, he sold Sibneft to Gazprom, another Russian state-owned energy group, for nearly $13 billion — an investment gain of about 5,000%.

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This triggered an acrimonious court battle with his former business partner, Boris Berezovsky, an exiled Russian oligarch. Berezovsky sued Abramovich in the UK for intimidating him into selling his Sibneft stock in 2001 for a "fraction" of its true value. But the court ruled in favor of Abramovich in 2012, with the judge saying she found Abramovich "a truthful, and on the whole reliable, witness."

Abramovich's lawyers have described claims that he amassed his wealth through crime as baseless. Yet in 2012, Abramovich admitted to a UK court that he made some corrupt payments in the run-up to the Sibneft deal.

Berezovsky was found dead at his home in Ascot, England, in March 2013. Amid claims of foul play, possibly by the Kremlin, a UK coroner ultimately concluded he was unable to say whether the oligarch had killed himself.

With the Sibneft meg-deal done, Abramovich went on to found multiple petroleum-trading companies and acquired holdings in Norilsk Nickel and Evraz , an industrial conglomerate. Trading in both companies was suspended by the London Stock Exchange after Russia invaded Ukraine.

In 2003, Abramovich sold a 25% stake in the aluminum company Rusal to the Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska for $1.9 billion. That year Abramovich also bought Chelsea FC, for about $190 million .

"I don't look at this as a financial investment," he told the Financial Times at the time. "I look at it as a hobby."

In a later interview with Forbes , he said: "In hindsight, especially with the public profile it would bring me, maybe I would have thought differently about owning a club."

In early March, shortly after the start of the Ukraine war, Abramovich announced plans to sell Chelsea FC for a rumored $2.5 billion.

Western officials say Abramovich has long enjoyed close ties to Putin, who in 2000 succeeded Boris Yeltsin as Russia's president.

Indeed, EU officials say Abramovich has "privileged access to the president, and has maintained very good relations with him." British officials describe Abramovich as a "pro-Kremlin oligarch" who's had "a close relationship for decades" with Putin. They say Abramovich and his businesses have received "preferential treatment and concessions" from Putin, including tax breaks, favorable rates when buying and selling shares in state-owned companies, and grants linked to the 2018 FIFA World Cup, which was held in Russia.

Abramovich has repeatedly denied being financially linked with Putin or having close personal ties with the Russian president.

In recent weeks, Abramovich was photographed at peace talks between Russia and Ukraine and has reportedly traveled across Ukraine, Russia, Poland, Israel, and Turkey to meet with officials, sometimes in hotel rooms. Abramovich reportedly met with Putin in late March, where he is said to have delivered a note from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy seeking peace.

Yet Abramovich's remit as peace envoy — if that indeed is what he is — hasn't been precisely determined. Both Russia and Ukraine have said Abramovich isn't an official member of their negotiation teams, and he's appeared to have sat with observers at talks.

But his role as middleman appears to have bought him time with the US. Washington officials told The Wall Street Journal that the US dropped plans to sanction Abramovich after Zelenskyy told Joe Biden that Abramovich could be useful in Russia-Ukraine peace talks.

"Roman Abramovich is involved in enabling certain contacts between the Russian and Ukrainian sides," the Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said in late March. Zelenskyy has said that Abramovich has tried to assist Ukraine with peace talks.

Whatever his role, the former rubber-duck trader has enjoyed quite the rise. What remains to be seen is whether the West will strip him of his great wealth, however earned, and bring about his downfall.

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Roman Abramovich’s $600m yacht leaves UK-operated port in Turkey

Abramovich is one of the most high-profile russians to face international sanctions for alleged links to putin.

The luxury yacht 'Solaris' near the Aegean coastal resort of Bodrum in Turkey. AP

Live updates: follow the latest news on Russia-Ukraine

The Solaris superyacht linked to sanctioned Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich has been moved from Turkey’s Bodrum port on the Aegean coast to another near by.

Marine Traffic, a ship-tracking website, showed the 140 metre Solaris was anchored near Yalikavak after travelling about 50 kilometres around the Bodrum Peninsula.

The Solaris is one of two vessels linked to Abramovich that are together worth an estimated $1.2 billion and have docked in south-west Turkey in recent weeks.

On Monday, Global Ports Holding, the London-listed operator of Bodrum, said the decision to allow ships to dock was the responsibility of the Turkish authorities.

Abramovich, the owner of Chelsea FC, is one of the most high profile Russians to face international sanctions and asset forfeiture because of alleged links to President Vladimir Putin, whose decision to send troops into Ukraine resulted in weeks of fighting.

Superyacht 'Amore Vero', which French authorities say is linked to the chief executive of Rosneft, a Russian energy company, moored near Marseille, France. Reuters

In the UK, there were questions about why the Solaris was allowed to dock and then permitted to sail from a port owned by a company listed in London.

Global Ports said it did not receive “any service fee or other payments concerning the berthing of the superyacht at Bodrum Cruise Port”.

Mr Abramovich was an unexpected face among the officials and diplomats gathered in a wing of the former imperial Dolmabahce Palace in Istanbul before peace talks between Russia and Ukraine were held there.

The Kremlin said his presence would “enable certain contacts”, while Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said Abramovich was sincerely working to end the war.

Abramovich and Ukrainian peace negotiators experienced poisoning symptoms

While his official capacity at the peace talks is vague, he is one of a number of people reported to be have been poisoned at an earlier round of talks.

Abramovich is one of several wealthy Russians who were last month added to EU and UK blacklists following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, which began in February.

Governments are seeking to isolate Mr Putin and his allies for their role in Russia's war against Ukraine.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Russian oligarchs are welcome in Turkey but they must abide by international law if they wish to do business.

Turkey, a member of the Nato military alliance, shares a maritime border with Ukraine and Russia in the Black Sea. It has good ties with both and has offered to mediate.

Ukrainians attempt to stop Abramovich's yacht docking in Turkey

Ukrainian protesters tried to stop the Solaris from docking.

Two other yachts worth almost $60m moored by the Caribbean island of Antigua have been revealed to belong to Abramovich.

The vessels, the Halo worth $38m and the $20m Garcon , were docked in Antigua’s Falmouth Harbour, and registered with a British Virgin Island company.

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Leak reveals Roman Abramovich’s billion-dollar trusts transferred before Russia sanctions

Exclusive: Files raise questions about whether oligarch’s children were made beneficiaries to protect fortune from possible asset freezes

Trusts holding billions of dollars of assets for Roman Abramovich were amended to transfer beneficial ownership to his children shortly before sanctions were imposed on the Russian oligarch.

Leaked files seen by the Guardian suggest 10 secretive offshore trusts established to benefit Abramovich were rapidly reorganised in early February 2022, three weeks before the start of Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine.

The sweeping reorganisation of Abramovich’s financial affairs commenced just days after governments threatened to impose sanctions against Russian oligarchs in the event of an invasion.

What are the Oligarch files?

The Oligarch files is a cache of leaked confidential documents containing emails, banking records, company filings, trust documents and compliance reports. The files originate from the Cyprus-based offshore service provider MeritServus. Located in Limassol, MeritServus helps its clients set up and manage offshore companies and trusts to shelter their wealth. 

Cyprus, an EU member state, has long served as a major offshore financial centre for wealthy Russians who have favoured the Mediterranean island as a destination to harbour their fortunes. Roman Abramovich appears to have been a client of MeritServus for more than 20 years. Holding assets in offshore havens such as Cyprus, sometimes via trusts, is not in or of itself illegal, and there are legitimate reasons why some people do it. 

The files were shared with the Guardian by an anonymous third party. A file in the leak suggests the data was obtained by hackers calling themselves "Freaky crew". The Guardian is only publishing stories based on files in the leak where it believes there is a public interest justification for doing so.

The leaked documents raise questions about whether the changes to trusts were made in an attempt to shield the oligarch’s vast fortune from the threat of asset freezes.

Analysis suggests the amendments made Abramovich’s seven children, the youngest of whom is nine years old, beneficiaries of trusts holding assets worth at least $4bn, though the total value could be much higher.

The changes appear to have made the children the ultimate beneficial owners of trophy assets long-linked to their father, including luxury properties and a fleet of superyachts, helicopters and private jets.

Sanctions experts said the sweeping reorganisation of the trusts could complicate efforts to enforce sanctions against the oligarch and potentially frustrate attempts to freeze assets previously believed to belong to the metals tycoon.

The revelations are likely to raise questions about whether Abramovich’s children should also be subject to asset freezes. Unlike family members of some of Putin’s closest advisers, many families of oligarchs subject to sanctions have avoided restrictions.

UK and EU governments have cast Abramovich as a pro-Kremlin oligarch and in March 2022 imposed sanctions on him for allegedly benefiting from close relations with Putin. Abramovich has denied financial ties to the Kremlin and filed legal action to overturn the EU’s measures.

What is a trust?

A trust is a legal arrangement created when someone (a settlor) places assets under the control of a third party (a trustee) for the benefit of someone else (a beneficiary). Assets held by a trust could include cash, shares in companies, real estate or other physical assets. Trusts can be used for many reasons such as asset protection, tax planning or managing family assets for future generations. Crucially, trusts separate the legal ownership of an asset from its beneficial ownership. A trust’s asset may be legally owned by the trustee but held for the benefit of the underlying beneficial owner. A trust’s assets are managed by the trustee in accordance with the trust’s governing document and instructions made by the settlor. Trusts are often overseen by a protector – appointed by the settlor – to monitor the trustee’s administration of the trust’s assets.

Abramovich, who holds Russian, Israeli and Portuguese citizenship, has not been added to the US sanctions list. Ukraine reportedly asked the White House not to impose sanctions against him after the businessman emerged as an unofficial mediator in peace negotiations.

The files appear to have been obtained through a hack of a Cyprus-based offshore service provider that administers the Abramovich trusts. The large cache of documents was shared anonymously with the Guardian.

The files illustrate how Abramovich has for decades used opaque trust structures to shelter his wealth in secretive offshore havens, and point to the challenges western authorities face in piercing these complex structures to enforce sanctions.

Abramovich’s financial holdings have come under intense scrutiny since the invasion. Authorities in Jersey have tried to freeze $7bn in assets in the Channel Islands, while the US has seized two of his private jets for violating export controls.

The FBI said in court filings at the time that it believed Abramovich had reorganised two trusts, one of which held the seized jets, by making his children beneficiaries.

The leaked files, however, suggest the reorganisation was more far-reaching.

In a burst of activity in February 2022, shortly before the invasion, Abramovich was removed as a beneficiary of the two trusts identified by the FBI. Meanwhile, his children were appointed as beneficiaries of eight additional trusts established to benefit their father.

Sanctions experts said the changes may have been a deliberate but not unlawful attempt to distance the oligarch from his wealth before sanctions were imposed.

The reorganisation, they said, could present challenges for authorities now pursuing assets long-believed to be owned by Abramovich as they determine who in reality owns and controls the multibillion-dollar fortune: the oligarch or his children. Abramovich and his children did not respond to detailed requests for comment.

Reorganisation of luxury assets

In February 2022, a day after Russian tanks rolled across Ukraine’s borders, Abramovich’s 25-year-old daughter, Sofia, reportedly shared a post on Instagram with a stridently anti-war message.

Featuring an image of the Russian president blocked out with a red line, it read: “The biggest and most successful lie of Kremlin’s propaganda is that most Russians stand with Putin.”

But for Sofia and her six other siblings, the beginning of Russia’s war against Ukraine marked another significant milestone: it was the day they in effect became billionaires.

On 24 February, as Russian fighter jets began bombing Kyiv, the finishing touches were made to an extensive reorganisation of their father’s offshore affairs set in motion three weeks earlier.

Until that month, Abramovich was the sole beneficiary of at least 10 Cyprus and Jersey trusts, documents suggest. But on 4 February – almost in one fell swoop – the trusts began to be amended to appoint Abramovich’s seven children as beneficiaries.

Files suggest the changes granted the children – five of whom are now adults – a collective 51%, or in some cases 100%, beneficial interest in the trusts’ assets. These range from shares in large Russian companies to more eye-catching physical assets such as the Eclipse, a superyacht with nine decks and two helipads.

The 163-metre vessel, long-believed to be owned by Abramovich, is ultimately held by the Europa Trust. Documents show Abramovich was removed as the trust’s beneficiary and replaced with his children. At the end of 2021, companies it controlled held assets worth $2.6bn, according to the files.

Details of the reorganisation of the trusts are laid bare in the Oligarch files , a cache of apparently hacked files from the offshore provider MeritServus, which has managed Abramovich’s financial interests for more than 20 years.

Demetris Ioannides, the chair and managing partner of MeritServus, did not respond to detailed requests for comment, saying the firm is prevented from disclosure of information to third parties, citing European data protection rules and UK case law, on which Cypriot trust laws are based. However, he added: “The paramount responsibility of a trustee is to protect the assets of a trust.”

The documents offer a snapshot of the oligarch’s fortune on the eve of the invasion and illustrate how his trusts have held a myriad network of companies in secretive jurisdictions and funded an extravagant lifestyle.

For decades, the trusts’ web of companies have enabled Abramovich and his family to live the high life: from purchasing aircraft – a Boeing 787 Dreamliner and multiple Airbus helicopters – to paying the pop star Prince for a private concert in the Caribbean.

But the timing of the sudden reorganisation of the trusts last February raises questions about whether the changes were designed to ensure his family could continue to benefit from his fortune and circumvent sanctions.

Under US law, if a person subject to sanctions directly or indirectly owns 50% or more of an entity its assets can be frozen. UK and EU rules are similar but allow assets to be frozen when a person owns less than 50% of the entity if they exercise direct or indirect control over it.

But establishing who really controls assets, particularly when they are held by opaque offshore trusts, is rarely a straightforward task, experts say.

With Abramovich’s trusts, measures appear to have been taken that would enable him to state that he does not legally control the trusts’ assets. Files suggest he has been permanently prevented from exercising any control over the trusts as a trustee or protector.

A former senior US sanctions enforcement official said the reorganisation of the trusts could be used as an effective way of distancing someone from assets vulnerable to being frozen as a result of sanctions.

“It is often challenging to figure out ownership due to the byzantine ways assets are held through shell companies and trusts,” they said. “And then when you add further levels of abstraction with respect to who controls the assets, enforcement can become a very challenging exercise.”

Challenges facing authorities

It remains unclear what impact, in practice, the reorganisation of the Abramovich trusts has had on sanctions enforcement, but there are indications authorities are facing challenges when tracing assets linked to the oligarch.

In London, a £90m mansion on Kensington Palace Gardens that reportedly belongs to the former Chelsea football club owner has so far avoided a restriction notice that would prevent it from being sold without explicit permission from the UK’s sanctions enforcement agency.

The Land Registry told the Guardian last year that some properties, even if publicly linked to a person subject to sanctions, may not be marked as restricted because of insufficient evidence of ownership, particularly where they are owned by anonymous trusts.

On paper, the west London mansion, which has 15 bedrooms and an underground swimming pool, is owned by A Corp Trustee. Documents suggest the Cyprus-based company owns the property on behalf of the KPG Trust – whose sole beneficiary, until February 2022, was Abramovich.

After the reorganisation, the oligarch’s entitlement to distributions from the trust’s assets was reduced to 49%, while his children were appointed as beneficiaries and granted a 51% entitlement.

Documents suggest the same change was applied to at least seven of the 10 trusts, including: the Grano Trust, Zeus Trust, Zephros Trust, Proteus Trust and Perseus Trust. The children were also appointed as beneficiaries of the Sara Trust but the proportion of their entitlement to its assets is unclear. Abramovich’s beneficial interest in the Ermis Trust was reduced to 49%.

As a result of the reorganisation, other assets in the sights of authorities may prove more challenging to tie back to Abramovich.

Last month, the Canadian government said it planned to seize $26m in assets in the country held by Granite Capital Holdings, a British Virgin Islands company, which it said was owned by Abramovich. If successfully seized, officials said, the proceeds would be used for the reconstruction of Ukraine.

But documents indicate Granite Capital Holdings is no longer owned by Abramovich. The files suggest he was removed in February 2022 as a beneficiary of the HF Trust that ultimately holds the BVI company.

He was then replaced by his children, though in March 2022, shortly before the UK and EU imposed sanctions on Abramovich, the trustees of the HF Trust told a Cayman Islands-based hedge fund administrator that the children held no fixed interest in the trust’s assets and any distribution of its funds were made at the trustee’s discretion.

Financial statements in the leaked cache suggest that at the end of 2019 the trust held assets worth $3.3bn.

David Rundle, a sanctions and financial crime lawyer at WilmerHale, said the reorganisation of a trust, in anticipation of a connected person being subject to financial sanctions, could protect against the property being frozen but it was not a “silver bullet”.

He said where the children of a person subject to sanctions became beneficiaries shortly before sanctions were imposed, financial institutions were likely to be extremely cautious about how they treat the assets, unless they were satisfied the individual subject to sanctions no longer had effective control over them. “Subject to evidence of estrangement, that is not an easy standard to meet,” he said.

Additional reporting and engineering support from Sam Cutler and Mario Savarese

• Roman Abramovich
• Oligarch files

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How Roman Abramovich became the face of Russian wealth

Published November 15 2023

By Simon Lock

Roman Abramovich has long been Russia’s most famous oligarch. His takeover of Chelsea Football Club in 2003 launched him from faceless oil baron to international celebrity.

Abramovich’s image today is one of boundless wealth: private jets, superyachts, sprawling mansions. Chelsea amassed silverware under his tenure as he invested more than £2bn on new players, propelling the club to the pinnacle of English football.

But there’s a lesser known story behind the public image – that of Abramovich the businessman, a commodities magnate holding huge sway in Russian and global markets.

He is the biggest shareholder of Evraz, a steel-maker that was previously listed on the London Stock Exchange. He’s also held stakes in Highland Gold, a precious metals mining company, and RusAl, a Russian aluminium giant.

His large tangle of companies stretching across the globe have invested in everything from real estate to the legalised cannabis market.

The controversial deal that made him rich

Estimates of Abramovich’s net worth stand at about £6bn, according to the Sunday Times Rich List.

But he came from humble beginnings. Orphaned by the age of three, he was raised by relatives in Russia’s vast, remote Komi Republic.

He worked stints in the army and as a mechanic before moving to Moscow and into the world of business. He began trading commodities, and in particular oil.

In the mid-1990s, Abramovich struck big. In the economic turmoil following the collapse of the Soviet Union, he struck up a relationship with Boris Berezovsky, a flamboyant oligarch with strong ties to Boris Yeltsin, the first president of post-USSR Russia.

With Berezovsky’s help, Abramovich bought a controlling interest in the newly created oil company Sibneft from the government for $100m. It would rapidly become one of Russia’s top ten largest oil companies.

The Sibneft deal sprang from the Russian government’s “loans for shares” scheme, in which the Kremlin lent stakes in state assets in return for loans from the private sector.

Yeltsin’s government needed money urgently to pay government debts and fund an upcoming election campaign. The idea was that if the government defaulted on its loan payments (which it eventually did), the lenders kept the shares.

The scheme was reportedly mired in corruption; with allegations of rigged auctions, and shares transferred for what analysts consider to be a fraction of their value.

The result was the rapid transfer of assets from the state to the hands of a lucky few.

Not all of the 1990s “entrepreneurs” remained at the forefront of the Russian economy. Abramovich’s old ally Berezovsky fell out with Yeltsin’s successor, Putin, and went into exile.

Berezovsky later took Abramovich to court over the sale of his shares in Sibneft, sparking a long and messy legal battle – the biggest in the history of private litigation. Abramovich emerged victorious in 2012.

Other oligarchs, such as Mikhail Khodorkovsky who owned Russia’s then biggest oil company Yukos, also fell by the wayside.

But Abramovich prospered. He became the governor of Chukotka, an icy region in the north-east of Russia, a role he held for eight years. His business empire grew.

In 2005 Abramovich sold his stake in Sibneft back to state-owned oil company Gazprom for a staggering $13bn. The sum has formed the bedrock of Abramovich’s wealth since.

When the UK government sanctioned Abramovich in March 2022 in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, forcing him to sell Chelsea, it noted he was “one of the few oligarchs from the 1990s to maintain prominence under Putin”. Abramovich has challenged similar sanctions in the EU, arguing that he was targeted because he was famous, rather than over any proven relationship with Putin.

What do the Cyprus Confidential files reveal?

It’s long been known Abramovich used offshore entities to manage his wealth. But new data from the Cyprus Confidential leak shows for the first time the vast scale of the operation.

The investigation has mapped Abramovich’s use of more than 200 offshore companies from Cyprus to the British Virgin Islands, a dozen trusts, and thousands of inter-company transactions shifting billions of dollars around the globe.

The files raise serious questions about how Abramovich used his money, how it could have benefited Vladimir Putin, and the effect on other industries, such as European football.

Earlier this year, TBIJ and The Guardian revealed how Abramovich appears to have secretly funded the takeover of Dutch football club Vitesse. Dutch football authorities are now investigating whether the payments broke rules.

These files reveal even more shadowy deals that may have undermined fair competition in top-flight football. They show his offshore entities made a series of off-the-books payments to agents involved in signing some of Chelsea’s biggest stars, and to other clubs. This could have artificially reduced costs that should have counted towards Chelsea’s spending limits.

The leak also reveals that Abramovich appears to have handed a secret stake in a huge Russian advertising company to a pair of Putin’s close friends , including Sergei Roldugin, the man known as “Putin’s wallet”.

The $40m deal, made in late 2010, is the clearest paper trail yet to show that there may have been a link between the former Chelsea football club owner and the Russian president. Abramovich has always denied a financial relationship with Putin.

Reporter: Simon Lock Enablers editor: Eleanor Rose Bureau editor: Franz Wild Production editor: Frankie Goodway Fact checker: Alex Hess

Our Enablers project is funded by Open Society Foundations, the Hollick Family Foundation, Sigrid Rausing Trust, the Joffe Trust and out of Bureau core funds. None of our funders have any influence over the Bureau’s editorial decisions or output.

About The Author

Simon reports on financial corruption for our Enablers team. Before joining TBIJ, he covered major commercial law firms for Legal Week

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Roman Abramovich: From orphan to sanctioned billionaire oligarch

• Published 28 March 2022

He became an orphan aged three but went on to become one of the world's richest men. Now Roman Abramovich's links to Vladimir Putin have stripped him of his businesses and reputation.

"I'm sure people will focus on me for three or four days but it will pass," said the Russian billionaire when he bought Chelsea Football Club in 2003. "They'll forget who I am, and I like that."

There's little chance of anonymity now, given the events of the last few weeks. Following years of demands for greater scrutiny of Mr Abramovich's dealings, the UK government has frozen his UK-held assets - including his homes, artworks and Chelsea FC - and imposed a travel ban.

It has accused him of being complicit with Mr Putin in the invasion of Ukraine.

This fall from grace for a man who has dominated British football but sharply divided sports fans in the process will be cheered by some. But he has overcome huge challenges before, notably in his early life.

Orphan to tycoon

Roman Arkadyevich Abramovich was born in Saratov in south-western Russia, a few hundred miles from the border with Ukraine, in 1966. His mother, Irina, died of blood poisoning when he was one year old and his father died two years later after an accident with a construction crane. After that Mr Abramovich was raised by relatives, spending time in Komi, in north-west Russia, where money was tight and winter temperatures low.

"To tell the truth I cannot call my childhood bad," he once told the Guardian in a rare interview. "In your childhood you can't compare things: one eats carrots, one eats candy, both taste good. As a child you cannot tell the difference."

He left school at 16, worked as a mechanic and served in the Red Army before selling plastic toys in Moscow. He moved on to perfumes and deodorants, building up his wealth as greater openness under Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev allowed more scope for entrepreneurs.

The 'Wild East'

The disintegration of the Soviet Union, and with it state command of mineral assets, provided more opportunities, and in his mid-20s, Mr Abramovich had a further stroke of good fortune.

He seized the oil company Sibneft from the Russian government in a rigged auction in 1995 for around $250m (£190m). He sold it back to the government for $13bn (£9.9bn ) in 2005.

His lawyers say there is no basis for alleging he amassed very substantial wealth through criminality. However, in 2012, he admitted in a UK court that he had made corrupt payments to help get the Sibneft deal going.

He became involved in the "aluminium wars" of the 1990s, in which oligarchs - those who had accrued vast fortunes and political power after the Soviet collapse - fought for control of this vast industry.

"Every three days, someone was being murdered," Mr Abramovich said in 2011, adding that this threat to his safety had made him a reluctant participant.

But Mr Abramovich further proved his own toughness, accruing hundreds of millions of pounds amid the chaos.

• Secret paper highlights corrupt Abramovich deals

Entering politics

He became an ally of President Boris Yeltsin and a player in Moscow's post-Soviet political scene, even having an apartment in the Kremlin for a while.

When Mr Yeltsin resigned in 1999, Mr Abramovich was reportedly among those to back the prime minister and former KGB spy, Vladimir Putin, as his successor.

As Mr Putin established himself, he sought to assert his dominance over the oligarchs. Some went to prison, and others were exiled if they failed to show allegiance.

Mr Abramovich suffered neither fate. In 2000, he was elected as governor of the deprived region of Chukotka, at the north-eastern tip of Russia. He gained popularity after investing his own money in social services but stepped down in 2008.

All the while, he kept his business interests going, taking on the trappings of wealth - buying up paintings, houses, cars.

London calls

In an unusual move for a man widely described as quiet, even shy, in 2003 Mr Abramovich made himself famous around the footballing world when he purchased Chelsea, west London's largest club, in a deal worth £140m.

"My whole philosophy in life is to bring in professional teams," he told the Financial Times. "In Chukotka I have professional teams on the ground and I will do this here too."

Under the management of Jose Mourinho and others, Mr Abramovich's wealth helped Chelsea towards five Premier Leagues, two Champions Leagues and five FA Cups.

Oligarchs' money has flooded into London in recent years. Mr Abramovich's own property portfolio is believed to include a15-bedroom mansion at Kensington Palace Gardens in west London, reportedly worth more than £150m; a flat in Chelsea; a ranch in Colorado; and a holiday home on the French Riviera.

His yachts - the Solaris and the Eclipse - are among the world's largest. Mr Abramovich, who has been divorced three times, also owns a personal jet.

Asked by the Guardian in 2006 about what money can do for a person, he replied: "It cannot buy you happiness. Some independence, yes."

He certainly has plenty of money. Financial media giant Bloomberg estimates Mr Abramovich's fortune at $13.7bn (£10.6bn), ranking him as the world's 128th richest person. Its rival Forbes sets it at $12.3bn (£9.4bn), placing him 142nd.

What is under severe question, though, is the extent of his independence from Mr Putin.

Last year, Mr Abramovich sued publishing House HarperCollins for libel over a book, Putin's People by Catherine Belton, that claimed the Russian president had ordered him to buy Chelsea.

The two sides settled out of court, with the publisher agreeing to make some clarifications.

But Mr Abramovich's associations with Mr Putin have continued to dog him, particularly when Russian forces built up on the border with Ukraine and then invaded.

When the freezing of the UK assets of Mr Abramovich and six other oligarchs was announced, Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said: "With their close links to Putin, they are complicit in his aggression. The blood of the Ukrainian people is on their hands."

• Who are the mega-rich Russians facing sanctions?

Mr Abramovich announced the sale of Chelsea eight days before the sanctions were imposed. Some fans have continued to chant Mr Abramovich's name, but many politicians are calling for his assets to be seized, not just frozen.

"I hope that I will be able to visit Stamford Bridge one last time to say goodbye to all of you in person," Mr Abramovich has told Chelsea supporters. But a return to west London is unlikely for some time.

In a bizarre twist, it has now emerged that Mr Abramovich suffered symptoms of suspected poisoning - along with senior Ukrainian negotiators - at peace talks on the Ukraine-Belarus border in early March.

Related Topics

• Vladimir Putin

Special report: What Roman Abramovich did next

“I hope that I will be able to visit Stamford Bridge one last time to say goodbye to all of you in person,” Roman Abramovich said in a statement on the Chelsea website on March 2, 2022, when he confirmed his intention to sell the Premier League club after 19 years as its owner.

Eight days later, any short-to-medium-term hopes of this visit were curtailed when the British government announced sanctions had been placed upon Abramovich following the full Russian invasion of Ukraine, which began on February 24. The British government now describe Abramovich as a “prominent Russian businessman and pro-Kremlin oligarch”. They say he is associated with Russian president Vladimir Putin and, via his stake in steel and mining group Evraz, they accuse Abramovich of “obtaining a benefit from or supporting the government of Russia by carrying on business in sectors of strategic significance to Russia”.

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His assets in the UK were frozen, he was banned from travelling to the country and it is forbidden for any British citizen or company to do business with him. Within a week, the European Union followed suit.

The sanctions, which had been anticipated from the moment Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine, explained Abramovich’s decision to dispose of Chelsea and brought an ignominious end to his reign in English football, during which Chelsea won 31 trophies across their men’s and women’s teams.

Chelsea, as an institution of community value, received a licence to sell up even though Abramovich’s assets were frozen, but the government made this conditional on the funds raised from a sale being directed to the victims of war in Ukraine via a new foundation. Yet almost 14 months since a consortium led by the U.S. private equity firm Clearlake Capital and Todd Boehly acquired Chelsea, the £2.5billion ($3.2bn) raised remains in a frozen bank account belonging to Fordstam, which is controlled by Abramovich, due to a dispute between the British government and the independent officials appointed to run the foundation over how and where the money should be spent.

As for Abramovich, a life of globetrotting excess and opulence has been disrupted.

Here was a man whose New Year’s Eve parties, hosted on the Caribbean island of St Barts, became a golden ticket for billionaires, popstars and Hollywood’s cast of famous and infamous. Over the years, his St Barts estate hosted showbiz royalty such as Beyonce, Sir Paul McCartney, Prince, Jay-Z and Kanye West, as well as media baron Rupert Murdoch, the later-disgraced movie producer Harvey Weinstein and the Star Wars creator George Lucas.

Guests brought in the New Year with breathtaking firework displays set off from Abramovich’s 162-metre-long yacht Eclipse, which cost $700million (now £541.7m) to be built as the world’s largest superyacht in 2010 (it has since been relegated to No 3, behind yachts owned by the ruling families of the United Arab Emirates and Oman). His mansion in London’s Kensington Palace Gardens, acquired for £90million in 2009, stands on one of the English capital’s most exclusive streets and a short walk from Kensington Palace, which is home to Prince William, the future King of the United Kingdom.

Now, however, Abramovich’s existence is rather different, although it may be a rather small violin playing for a man who, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, still has an estimated net worth of $7.53billion, albeit down from $19billion in late 2021.

During the past 18 months, Abramovich has found himself exiled from mainland Europe. He is under investigation from prosecutors across several jurisdictions, including the U.S., Canada and Portugal, having been granted citizenship of the Iberian country in April 2021. He has also attracted the most extraordinary headlines as a man who has held in-person meetings with the leaders of Russia, Ukraine, Turkey and Saudi Arabia, and, at various times, found himself mediating over peace talks, where a story emerged that he may have been poisoned, as well being on the ground during prisoner-of-war exchanges and present for secret talks to repatriate Ukrainian children that have been taken into Russia.

Here , The Athletic goes inside the fall of the Roman Empire and what happened next.

To many football supporters, Abramovich may be the most famous person whose voice they have never heard. Even in the best of times, he rarely spoke publicly. He appeared often, particularly in the directors’ box at Chelsea’s Stamford Bridge stadium. Or he would join the celebrations, as he did at Porto’s Estadio do Dragao stadium in May 2021 when Chelsea beat Manchester City to win the Champions League for the second time. Yet in that period, very few people truly got close to Abramovich. He almost never affords interviews to the media and certainly not ones designed for scrutiny. Thomas Tuchel, his final coach at Chelsea, only met Abramovich for the first time when he won the Champions League six months after being hired. Abramovich declined to comment or respond formally to any questions for this report, while sources close to the Russian spoke only on the condition of anonymity due to not being authorised to speak publicly and owing to the sensitivity of matters discussed.

For a long time, Abramovich’s discretion did not matter to Chelsea supporters, who saw their club spend more than £2billion on player transfers and rack up silverware. Curiosity and questions over the Russian’s finances and alleged links to Putin were mostly confined to investigative journalists, such as Catherine Belton, whose critically acclaimed book Putin’s People: How The KGB Took Back Russia and Then Took On the West became the subject of legal action from Abramovich, and others, in part because it made the unproven claim that he had bought Chelsea at the behest of Putin. In December 2021, Abramovich settled a libel case against publisher HarperCollins in return for the removal or revisions of various allegations and a payment to charity, while the aforementioned claim about Abramovich’s motivations for buying Chelsea would no longer be portrayed as a statement of fact and Abramovich’s explanation for why he bought the club would be included.

An earlier court ruling by Mrs Justice Tipples noted that “there was no dispute between the parties that the claimant’s relationship with President Putin is a significant one”.

Abramovich’s silence did not even appear to be a major concern for English football when, in 2018, relations between Britain and Russia soured following the poisoning of the former Russian secret agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter in Salisbury, which the UK believed to be the responsibility of Russian military intelligence officers.

A few months later, Abramovich withdrew his application to renew his tier-one investment visa in the UK. The British Labour MP Chris Bryant, speaking with parliamentary privilege (which grants legal immunity when speaking to the House of Commons), said last year: “I’ve got hold of a leaked document from 2019, from the Home Office, which says in relation to Mr Abramovich: ‘As part of HMG’s (Her Majesty’s government) Russia strategy aimed at targeting illicit finance and malign activity, Abramovich remains of interest to HMG due to his links to the Russian state and his public association with corrupt activity and practices’.”

The Athletic has not independently verified this report, but multiple people who have worked in the British Home Office say officials previously considered bringing in Abramovich for questioning over his links to Putin and, on one occasion not long after the Skripal poisoning, they were disappointed to learn he had left the country via Luton airport’s private jet terminal. There is no suggestion Abramovich was made aware of the intentions of the Home Office. People close to Abramovich attribute his visa application withdrawal to his frustration over delays and a fear he would become a symbol of British political grandstanding against rich and famous Russians as tensions spiralled with Russia.

A Home Office spokesperson told The Athletic : “We do not routinely comment on individual cases. All applications are considered on their individual merits in line with the Immigration Rules.”

From 2018, Abramovich did not travel to the UK for three years and his only publicised visit came when he joined Israeli president Isaac Herzog in November 2021 as part of his work campaigning against antisemitism. His representatives say he made other less public trips to the UK around this time, but it is unclear when he last visited the country. He was able to travel to London under his Israeli citizenship, granted in 2018 and made possible because citizenship is granted to any Jewish person who wishes to move there.

These days, Abramovich’s life is spent between Sochi, Istanbul and Tel Aviv, while he has also been spotted house-hunting in Dubai, which has become a playground for rich Russians following sanctions from the West. He rarely keeps up with football, perhaps for the best considering Chelsea struggled last season, sacking two managers.

Since Chelsea was sold, Abramovich has not spoken publicly, but his most official version of how he spends his time can be found in filings made to the U.S. Department of Justice by the law firm Kobre & Kim, who disclosed that they had been enlisted to represent the Russian in June 2022. In the disclosure, his lawyers said they had been hired to provide advice for “judicial and administrative proceedings”, as well as “interface with government agencies”. The filing also ticked a box to confirm that Abramovich is “supervised” and “directed” by a foreign government, foreign political party or foreign principal . 

What does this mean? Well, an explanatory note in July 2022 says the supervision refers to how “s ince February 2022, Mr Abramovich is acting as a mediator in the peace negotiations between Russia and Ukraine, with the goal of finding a diplomatic solution to end the armed conflict. Mr Abramovich is acting in an independent capacity within these negotiations and was approved by both countries to take on the role as a mediator. In addition to his involvement in the negotiations, Mr Abramovich has been heavily involved in advocating for and coordinating the establishment of humanitarian corridors and other humanitarian rescue missions”. 

The Russian’s contract with the U.S. law firm said the lawyers who work on this matter would charge $1,450 per hour for their services. Quite whether the firm can actually receive his legal fees may be another matter because the contract also says the company is required to obtain a licence from the UK Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation before they can receive money from the Russian, owing to the measures against Abramovich in the UK. For the six-month reporting period ending April 30, 2023, Kobre & Kim reported they had so far been unable to receive payment. Both the law firm and the British treasury declined to comment as to whether a licence has now been granted.

While football fans obsessed over the fate of Chelsea, Abramovich’s attention was closer to home when Putin began his brutal invasion of Ukraine on February 24. Since then, the United Nations Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner has recorded more than 25,000 civilian casualties (more than 9,000 deaths and over 16,000 injuries) in Ukraine, while more than six million Ukrainians have been displaced as refugees. The estimation of military deaths is complex and contested, but General Mark Milley, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, said in November 2022 that around 100,000 soldiers on both sides had been killed or injured in the first nine months of the war alone.

When war broke out, Abramovich had been on the French Riviera, where he owns Chateau de la Croe, a 19-acre residence previously leased by English royalty in the 1930s and where the former British prime minister Winston Churchill celebrated his 40th wedding anniversary in 1948. Sources close to Abramovich claim he was one of more than 100 prominent people contacted by Ukrainians as President Zelenksy’s government sought to deter Putin’s invasion. Official contacts between the two countries had been cut off and well-connected go-betweens were required. Abramovich’s contacts are wide and extensive, owing to his investment in the independent art scene in eastern Europe as well as his strong ties to the Jewish community. He has donated more than $500million to Jewish causes around the world in the past 15 years, according to his lawyers, but Abramovich did not publicly speak out when Putin claimed to be “denazifying” Ukraine. The Ukrainian filmmaker Alexander Rodnyansky, whose son advised Zelensky, told the Financial Times: “The Ukrainians had been trying to find someone in Russia who could help in finding a peaceful solution. They reached out for help and Roman is the person who decided to help and mobilise support for a peaceful resolution.”

Abramovich, whose representatives had spent so many years denying he had any privileged access to Putin, secured a meeting with the Russian president, which culminated in Abramovich being granted a role as mediator in peace talks, according to the independent Russian news website Proekt .

Abramovich’s only formal political role in Russia was as governor of Chukotka for an eight-year period until 2008.

David Lingelbach, formerly head of Bank of America’s Russian operations in Moscow and now a professor at the University of Baltimore, tells The Athletic : “There’s this famous period in Abramovich’s career where he is the governor of Chukotka, out in the Russian Far East, and he basically said, ‘Yeah, I’ll go out there and be the governor’. And he lived there and he dumped a fair bit of his then fortune into helping the people there. And all of that was, in my view, a way to demonstrate to Putin that he was a person who was willing to do whatever it took to demonstrate fealty and loyalty, which I think is probably one of Putin’s higher values.

“I don’t know any one of the other oligarchs who was willing to make that kind of a sacrifice. Siberia is a world unto its own. And to make a choice, to go to a place like Chukotka that even a lot of Russians couldn’t place on a map and work there for some period of time was quite extraordinary. And it was acknowledged. It bought him a lot of running room with Putin and he has since diversified his holdings, by moving his base of operations first to London and perhaps now Istanbul.”

Abramovich appears to maintain the trust of Putin, but The Wall Street Journal also reported that President Zelensky requested that US President Joe Biden should not follow the lead of Britain, the EU and Canada by imposing sanctions on Abramovich, as the Russian appeared to have a degree of trust, or use, within Ukrainian diplomatic circles. The Ukrainian government declined to comment when approached by The Athletic, which sources in diplomatic circles attributed to the ongoing sensitivity of Abramovich’s role.

David Arakhamia, Ukraine ’s lead negotiator when the war began, described Abramovich’s contribution as “helpful”, saying it was a way to receive informal opinions on matters important to Russia during negotiations. Yet not everybody was convinced. Ukraine’s ambassador to Britain, Vadym Prystaiko, told the BBC he had “no idea what Mr Abramovich is claiming or doing” at the meetings.

The happenings around Abramovich became stranger. During the first week of the war, he was present during negotiations in Belarus. Then, in early March, the Sunday Times claimed he had become a diplomatic postman, hand-delivering a “handwritten letter” from Zelensky to Putin in which the Ukrainian president set out his conditions for a peace agreement. The newspaper claimed Putin responded by saying: “Tell him I will thrash them.”

The most startling episode came when the Wall Street Journal and Bellingcat claimed Abramovich was among three people present at peace talks at the Ukraine-Belarus border who suffered symptoms of suspected poisoning by an “undefined chemical weapon”. Abramovich reportedly experienced sore eyes and peeling skin, with a New York Times report claiming he asked a scientist who examined him: “Are we dying?”

An anonymous U.S. official later told Reuters that the symptoms may have been due to “environmental” factors rather than poisoning, while Ihor Zhovkva, an official in the Ukrainian president’s office, told the BBC that the two Ukrainians who had been reported to be poisoned were “fine”. Dmitry Peskov, a spokesman for the Russian Kremlin, said the reports were part of an “information war”.

Abramovich’s purported brush with mortality did not end his mediation role. In the final week of March, he was photographed in a blue suit at the Dolmabahce Palace in Istanbul, where President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey hosted a summit of diplomats aimed at securing a ceasefire. Ibrahim Kalin, the official representative of President Erdogan, described Abramovich, who sat at the front of the observers, as “someone who was appointed by Putin as a negotiator .” Kremlin spokesman Peskov went softer. He said: “ Abramovich is involved in ensuring certain contacts between the Russian and Ukrainian sides and he is not an official member of the delegation. You know that our delegation is headed by presidential aide (Vladimir) Medinsky, but nevertheless, from our side, he (Abramovich) is present at the negotiating table.” 

In the case of Abramovich, his presence attracted curiosity and cynicism. One former British foreign office official, speaking anonymously due to the terms of his exit, told The Athletic that Abramovich may have been “riding two horses”, on the one hand seeking to improve his image in the West, while Putin, who mostly surrounds himself with parochial FSB or former KGB personnel, may have appreciated the global perspective and insight of a commercial figure such as Abramovich.

Peace talks in March last year failed but, according to his lawyer’s filings, Abramovich still considers himself to be mediating. Last summer, he became involved in the exchange of 200 Ukrainian prisoners of war in return for 55 Russians, as well as a group of foreign nationals from the U.S., Britain, Croatia, Sweden and Morocco. Sources close to Abramovich say he was present at meetings involving the Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohamed Bin Salman, with the Saudi state instrumental in negotiating the exchange. There were four different sites where prisoners were exchanged, but Abramovich was present at Rostov-on-Don airport, where several British prisoners were released. Aiden Aslin, one of the Brits released, wrote in the Daily Mail newspaper how, upon boarding the plane, another of the captives recognised a familiar man.

“You don’t half look like Roman Abramovich,” said Shaun Pinner, one of those released.

“I am Roman Abramovich,” the man replied.

Over time, elements of this story have been glamourised, with suggestions Abramovich provided iPhones to the men to call their families and served steak to the released prisoners. Sources both close to Abramovich and the Saudi government say the Saudis organised the plane, the food and all services on board, while Abramovich was present.

Aslin said he was grateful to Abramovich for his role in the release, but added that his “gratitude to Abramovich and the Saudi prince has its limits.” He said: To me, they are knights in dark satin, playing a game with the Kremlin for their own purposes.”

Abramovich has also been involved in mediation efforts to agree deals to secure grain out of Ukraine and ammonia out of Russia, while the Financial Times claimed last week that the oligarch has been privy to conversations with Saudi Arabia and Turkey to repatriate Ukrainian children taken into Russia during the war. In March, the international criminal court in The Hague indicted Putin and the Russian children’s commissioner Maria Lvova-Belova for the mass abduction of Ukrainian children, meaning an international arrest warrant is now out for Putin.

Lingelbach, who worked closely with Putin in the 1990s when running Bank of America’s operations, says Putin may stand to benefit from Abramovich’s involvement, with the return of some of the children perhaps helping his case should he be tried for war crimes even in absentia. Lingelbach says: “I think he’s trying to keep the channels open to keep his options open and Abramovich is part of that process.”

For many years, Abramovich has carefully choreographed a reputation as a philanthropist, which is emphasised by the filings made by his own lawyers to the U.S. Department of Justice.

His lawyers say Abramovich is the chairman of the Federation of Jewish Communities of Russia, a trustee of the Moscow Jewish Museum and in 2018 he received an award from the Federation of Jewish Communities to commend the contribution of more than $500million he had donated to Jewish causes. In March 2022, as the war began, this appeared to secure Abramovich some allies in Israel. The Washington Post reported how Dani Dayan, chairman of the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial Museum, wrote to the U.S. ambassador for Israel to discourage sanctions against Abramovich.

The letter described Abramovich as the museum’s second-largest private donor and played down suggestions Abramovich had links to Putin. On February 22, 2022, two days before Russian tanks rolled into Ukraine, Yad Vashem had announced a new long-term strategic partnership with Abramovich and the museum spokesman Simmy Allen described it as an eight-figure donation. Within three weeks, following British sanctions against Abramovich, Yad Vashem had suspended its partnership with Abramovich.

Abramovich maintains Israeli citizenship, yet the Portuguese government is carrying out an inquiry into the process that led to Abramovich securing citizenship under a law that offered naturalisation to descendants of Sephardic Jews previously expelled from the country. The Portuguese government did not respond to an email requesting an update on the status of the inquiry and neither did lawyers representing Abramovich.

In the U.S., Abramovich has still not been sanctioned, but he appointed lawyers on June 15, 2022, nine days after a federal judge in New York authorised the U.S. government to seize two private jets that a 14-page sworn affidavit by FBI special agent Alan Fowler concluded were owned by the Russian. The prosecutor alleged that two of Abramovich’s planes flew to Russia in March 2022 in violation of export restrictions the U.S. had imposed following the Russian invasion. This included a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, acquired for $93.6m in 2017 by a shell company the FBI say was owned by Abramovich, which has since been re-designed to increase its value to $350m.

Fowler also stated his belief that in or about February 2022, “Abramovich reorganised the ownership of his assets, including by making his children (all of whom are Russian nationals) the beneficiaries” of an offshore trust in Cyprus, which he claimed sat at the top of a structure of shell companies that ultimately owned the planes. Abramovich has four daughters and three sons.

The Guardian further alleged in January this year that the reorganisation of Abramovich’s affairs started in 10 separate trusts in the weeks leading up to the Russian invasion, while in April, the British government placed sanctions on Demetris Ioannides, who they said “ is responsible for crafting the murky offshore structures which Abramovich used to hide over £760million of assets ahead of being sanctioned following Putin’s illegal invasion of Ukraine”. 

Sources close to Abramovich argue that some of the reorganisation can be explained by banks approaching Abramovich in the months leading up to the invasion in response to media coverage that reported heightened tensions between Russia and Ukraine. They claim banks wanted loans to be repaid to mitigate the impact of any possible changes to their client’s assets or ability to release funds.

Lingelbach, formerly of Bank of America in Moscow, says this would be logical: “I don’t have the granular knowledge about the run-up to the 2022 invasion, but when I was working in Russia in the ’90s, we had the 1998 Russian financial crisis and we observed exactly the same thing. We as a foreign bank knew something pretty bad was going to happen, so we were already reducing our exposures. The banks would have been saying, ‘We need to settle before you become illiquid’. I noticed also that Abramovich had started doing some stuff. I’m surprised more of the oligarchs weren’t more strategic in that regard.”

Abramovich is also under threat in Jersey, where authorities have frozen $7billion worth of assets, although local police apologised and paid damages for unlawful searches of his property.

The Canadian ministry of foreign affairs announced in December that Canada will start the process to seize and pursue the forfeiture of $26million from Granite Capital Holdings Ltd, a company owned by Abramovich, and seek to use the funds generated to help reconstruct Ukraine.

A spokesperson for Global Affairs Canada told The Athletic : “Restraint of these assets does not change the ownership. It is a first step in a legal process. The Government of Canada continues to carefully consider next steps towards potentially applying to Canadian courts for forfeiture. Numerous procedural fairness steps for the owner and any affected third parties are included in the asset seizure and forfeiture regime and associated court proceedings.”

Last May, Abramovich challenged the sanctions imposed by the European Union and this month his lawyers appeared at the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg to argue that the sanctions were based more on fame than “on evidence”. They argued that he has been an “upstanding citizen”, with lawyer Thierry Bontinck adding: “Celebrity is a double-edged sword. Ask yourself this question: When the war started, did this very famous Russian have a chance of avoiding the restrictive measures? The answer is no. Even though he had lived, worked and invested in the West for more than 20 years.”

In the event of a victory, Abramovich is requesting the sanctions be overturned and that the European Union Council, by way of damages, makes a payment of €1million for the “foundation for victims of conflicts which is being established in connection with the sale of Chelsea FC”.

Making such a donation, however, may not be straightforward. This is because, over a year after the sale of Chelsea went through, a foundation is still to actually be established. The reasons for the delay centre on disagreements between the British government and the independent officials appointed to run the foundation, such as Mike Penrose, a former director of UNICEF, over where and how the vast funds should be spent. As of now, the money remains frozen in a bank account controlled by Abramovich and no bank account has been set up for the foundation.

The dispute rests on the British government’s original insistence, underpinned by a deed of undertaking, that any money raised from the sale should not benefit Abramovich and should be spent within Ukraine. This means there is now confusion and misalignment over whether the funds must be spent within the borders of Ukraine itself or whether it could be spent, for example, to assist the millions of displaced refugees or, for example, in countries that have been disproportionately impacted by shortages that have come about due to a shortage of Ukraine grain. The wording of Abramovich’s claim to the EU, referring to a “foundation for victims of conflicts” is non-specific to Ukraine, but the British government’s unilateral statement in May 2022 could not have been clearer.

It stated that the proceeds should be used “for exclusively humanitarian purposes in Ukraine” and warned that it will not “issue a licence which enables any part of the proceeds from a sale to be used in a way which would directly or indirectly benefit Roman Abramovich or any other designated person”. The statement added that the Portuguese government and the European Commission must also agree to any proposal and the destination of the proceeds. An official who has worked in Downing Street over the past year told The Athletic he had been given the impression that Whitehall officials would have no qualms about this money being frozen for years until they are convinced Russians would not unintentionally benefit in some way, while Penrose, speaking to the New York Times in June, said he had still not held any meetings with British government ministers. 

In a statement to The Athletic , a spokesman for the British foreign office said: “We’ve been clear since the sale of Chelsea FC went through that we’d only issue a licence that ensures the proceeds are specifically used for humanitarian purposes in Ukraine.”

The spokesman added that they “remain open to any arrangement that clearly delivers in line with these conditions”.

Lingelbach, who used to hold frequent meetings with Putin during his time as a banker in Moscow, says: “Putin must be chuckling about it because he will just see this as another demonstration of the utter ineffectiveness of the West, arguing for a year now since the club was sold. So there’s all this money sitting in Abramovich’s bank account that they cannot use. And the West, the UK government, it seems, is basically saying it has to actually go into Ukraine. But there are all of these Ukrainian refugees in Poland, for example. The UK government is right to insist there be controls in place to ensure the money does not end up in Russia’s hands. That’s a totally legitimate thing. But my response would be to these guys to get on with it.”

As with everything related to Abramovich, it appears complex. While he treads a fine line with Putin, his openness to the West yielded criticism from Russian officials who are even more hardline than Putin. In December, the Grey Zone Telegram channel, which is aligned to the Wagner group (a Russian paramilitary organisation), criticised Abramovich for appearing to receive sanctions relief while assisting the release of Ukrainian prisoners. Abramovich was out of Russia and photographed in Israel when the Wagner group, spearheaded by Yevgeny Prigozhin, briefly threatened to advance on Moscow in late June.

Abramovich has not spoken about this. Once again, the world is left to watch on, always second-guessing his next move and the motivation behind it.

(Top photo: Getty Images; design: Sam Richardson)

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Adam Crafton covers football for The Athletic. He previously wrote for the Daily Mail. In 2018, he was named the Young Sports Writer of the Year by the Sports' Journalist Association. His debut book,"From Guernica to Guardiola", charting the influence of Spaniards in English football, was published by Simon & Schuster in 2018. He is based in London.