to me, this sounds ominously like Abramovich doesn't think he'll be spending much time in the UK over the next few years. In other words, the situation in Russia has spun out of control even for the oligarchs.
Statement from Roman Abramovich
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Re: Statement from Roman Abramovich
#102The positive: he calls it a war - which is a very clear distancing from Moscow. The more questionable: “all victims”. The correct call would be to clarify that all victims are on the Ukrainian side. That would have made an even clearer message against Putin too.
I don't get why we are so concerned with the purity of his heart.
As I see it it pales near to his gesture and the simple fact that he (a Russian man, a friend of Putin, a person with a lot of personal and business connections to Russia) is doing it. I feel he is already beyond all expectations.
Re: Statement from Roman Abramovich
#103At first it was "this will be put into a trust" as if that solves the problem of the club being owned by an oligarch. Now it's "it will be sold but not fast-tracked and the proceeds given to a foundation." Why not just transfer it to a foundation along with the debts? The weasel-wording and slow-rolling gives the appearance of an attempt to evade consequences.
also why does it need a new foundation? A foundation he controls (or controlled by someone he controls) is a cool way to get some money off his books but still control it.
Re: Statement from Roman Abramovich
#104Earlier quoted context omitted.
Nonetheless, if you remove the sugardaddy, their model hasn't ever been a sustainable business. Chelsea clearly improved as a club after Roman bought the team (unlike United or Arsenal), so I'm not discounting that, but basically all major league sports teams in the (global) west have increased massively in value the last 10-15 years - how much of that is real value and how much is speculative is still up in the air.
Things can be valued as assets based on the present value of their future cash flows (like companies) or by their desirability and rarity (like a Lambo). The argument you are making is equivalent to 'now that he won't pay for the gas, who will buy the Lambo?'
I'm definitely arguing that the Lambo is less valuable without gas, and that the number of people with a comparable amount of gas to pour on a soccer club is a very limited group. It's unclear what the actual value is, since some major portion of the value is based on it's desirability/rarity, which is a speculative quality - as a business, Chelsea doesn't seem to have the finances of a top 4 club.
Re: Statement from Roman Abramovich
#105Earlier quoted context omitted.
I've found this article interesting https://www.salon.com/2022/02/26/the-ukraine-and-how-we-got-...
Quite aside from all the injustices, lies and pushes for military action by the U.S. since the end of the Cold War, this article takes a blatantly one-sided view that essentially seems to state "well, you shouldn't have pushed Russia into a corner. The invasion is your fault". As another reply below says, no mention of Russia's own military aggression with neighbors under Putin's rule or of the fact that if NATO grew…
sure it is one-sided, but at least it tries to give a plausible explanation rather than all the inflammatory nonsense about putin being a madman hellbent on conquering Europe. I find the general lack of interest in understanding the motivations of the opposition very disappointing
people in this very thread are saying things like "his actions make no sense." Frankly if that's your contribution, maybe realize you're out of your depth? can we at least _try_ to learn from this so we can prevent future war?
Re: Statement from Roman Abramovich
#106The guy is giving away £3 billion+ to charity and writing off a £1.5 billion loan, and yet the whole thread is looking for holes in the short statement. Nice gesture I say as he didn’t start the war.
> Nice gesture I say as he didn’t start the war.
At this point anybody close to Putin might have a presumption of guilt. It's not good to support decades of growing autocracy, benefit from it and when it started to crumble in agony, step aside and say "I didn't do this last step".
Re: Statement from Roman Abramovich
#107Will this allow them to no longer be referred to as Chelski?
Al-Chels is probably going to be the new one.
Re: Statement from Roman Abramovich
#108Earlier quoted context omitted.
15 years in prison if the new law passes, right?
he seems to be banking on the new leader of the "Polish Eastern Territories" granting amnesty to oligarchs for their help in securing the Siberian Fronts
He’s gambling on Putin losing. Which seems an outside bet, but then he probably has information we don’t.
Re: Statement from Roman Abramovich
#109Called it a war and basically took Ukraine's side. This guy isn't entering Russia anytime soon.
Was there just a few hours ago
https://twitter.com/RUOligarchJets/status/149867860852467712...
Re: Statement from Roman Abramovich
#110>Moreover, I have instructed my team to set up a charitable foundation where all net proceeds from the sale will be donated. The foundation will be for the benefit of all victims of the war in Ukraine. That's quite the statement coming from one of Russia's biggest oligarch.
The money could all be payed to families of dead Russian soldiers and still be considered going to "victims of the war in Ukraine" Plus, I don't think Abramovich really cares of any investigative journalist finds this never came true
I don't think it matters if the money pays death benefits to Russian soldiers, they're also being tragically sent to die for an evil purpose. I see them as victims of Putin. Nobody should have to die for an autocrat's ego.