The transfer of $3 billion from the sale of “Chelsea” to Ukraine is delayed again
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Despite the fact that the fund, which is being created to transfer to Ukraine 2.9 billion dollars from Roman Abramovich’s sale of the Chelsea football club, is almost ready, the agreement process is being delayed in Britain.
It is reported Bloomberg.
We are talking about a fund worth 2.34 billion pounds ($2.9 billion), created with the proceeds of the sale of sanctioned Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich. The amount will be spent on humanitarian projects supporting medical, educational and housing programs for Ukrainians.
The fund is almost ready to launch and has decided on a board chair, but British government approval is taking longer than expected, said Mike Penrose, former UNICEF UK director and acting director of the fund.
“There are complexities and delays associated with political approval both between Britain and the EU, and within Britain itself,” Penrose noted.
According to him, the bureaucratic procedures for creating the fund have already been completed. In particular, there is the candidacy of Norwegian Refugee Council Secretary General Jan Egeland for the position of chairman, an international shortlist of candidates for the seven-member board and nominations of investment managers who will manage the money.
However, no decisions will be made until the funds are agreed in Britain.
According to the interlocutor of the agency, the EU has provided the relevant parties with legal clarification regarding the application of sanctions, and further work on their part is not expected.
The practical aspects of providing aid have proven to be very difficult, another interlocutor of the agency explains, and there are still a number of issues to be resolved before Ukraine can see the money. However, it is not known when this will happen.
The plan is that the funds from the deal, which are currently in a frozen account, will be transferred to the new fund. Once established, it will need to apply for a funds access license to the UK Financial Sanctions Authority.
The country’s government will have to assess the application for a license in terms of the risks of circumventing sanctions, which can take a significant amount of time.
The use of sanctioned assets is a legally complex issue. The EU recently proposed an obligation for banks to report seized assets of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation, and the bloc’s legislation theoretically allows these assets to be invested to help Ukraine.
But the application of such a mechanism to the assets of individuals and legal entities under sanctions may be problematic, as the restrictions are intended to be temporary.
Chelsea’s funds, on the other hand, belong to a different category, because Abramovich himself proposed to create a charity fund during the announcement of the sale of the FC.
We remind you:
In January it was reported that the British Govt near to transfer the £2.3bn proceeds from the sale of Chelsea FC by Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich to a fund for Ukraine, but is subject to final EU approval.
In May last year, the agreement to sell the English FC “Chelsea” to the American consortium led by Todd Boeli was closed. Since 2003, the club has been owned by Russian businessman Roman Abramovich.
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