Unlock the editor’s digestion for free
Rula Calaf, FT editor, chooses his favorite stories in this weekly newsletter.
British Foreign Affairs Secretary David Lami has pledged to take an “action” that may include the launch of a legal case in order to release £ 2.3 billion in sales of Chelsea football club from Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich more than two years ago.
The funds, which the UK government has frozen and wants to be diverted to Ukraine, are sitting in the bank account of dedicated confidence in the last two years, while talks on how money should be used.
“I am frustrated that has not happened, is the truth – and that money needs to be distributed, they need to be used,” Lami told the Financial Times in Tokyo. He said he was moving to an “approach-oriented approach” to try and break the logs.
He noted that his “first instinct is not litigation” because that time “takes time”, although people familiar with his thinking have said that going to the trouble for solving the problem is one of the options of the table. Reaching a contract with the set foundation to be established to handle cash remains another.
While he acknowledged that there were “legal complexities” about the matter, he promised: “I am determined to see that money out of the door and do everything I can to bring it.”
The position of the UK government is that the money must be spent in Ukraine, while the Mooted Foundation involving former UK chief executive Mike Penrous-is on flexibility to support the refugees who fled the war, people told.
In a message on the Chelsea website in March 2022-the month he was sanctioned by the UK-Abramovich said the Foundation would be “in favor of all victims of the war in Ukraine”, including by providing “critical means of urgent and immediate needs of victims.
Lami’s intervention comes after Kiev faced escalating pressure after the United States stopped all military aid. Quoting the “urgency of the moment” and the need to step up efforts to help and help Ukraine, he said: “I deliberately see this issue.”
Also secretary of foreign affairs supported The idea of a new multilateral defense bank this week to help the UK and Europe fund their defense.
The Foreign Affairs Office said: “This government is working hard to provide Chelsea FC sales revenue to reach humanitarian reasons in Ukraine as soon as possible. Revenue is currently frozen in a UK bank account, while a new independent money management and distribution foundation has been established.
“UK officials continue to discuss with representatives of M -Abramovich, experts and international partners and we will double our efforts to achieve a resolution.”
Abramovich’s representative did not respond immediately to the commentary request.
Source link
