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Statement from Roman Abramovich

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Re: Statement from Roman Abramovich

#71

Post by ignoramous »

nindalf wrote: post #43

Context for people unfamiliar with football/soccer: Roman Abramovich is a Russian oligarch who grew rich in the 90s by buying state owned companies at rigged auctions. He was close to the previous President Yeltsin and allegedly recommended that Yeltsin appoint Putin as his successor. His relations with Putin have remained cordial with Putin unlike some other oligarchs like Mikhail Khordokovsky, who crossed Putin and…

> Ironic that he got the club to avoid seizure by Putin but it got seized in the end anyway.

What's ironic is the claims Abramovich used Chelsea for sports washing his image. I don't think it is any but speculation.

Re: Statement from Roman Abramovich

#72

Post by pvaldes »

buitreVirtual wrote: post #13
giarc wrote: post #4

>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.

Chelsea FC is not profitable, so what proceeds can possibly be donated? Even after winning the Champions League they lost money.

I can think in a few solid reasons explaining why a very rich could want to keep a non profitable company in a foreign country. Making valuable personal contacts for example. Some companies aim to earn money. The purpose of other is to burn money at a fast pace when needed. Maybe to support the first ones.

The interesting part in this is not that will sell a club, is that will announced that will sell all his properties in UK, in a context of big economic sanctions.

Re: Statement from Roman Abramovich

#73

Post by notahacker »

giarc wrote: post #4

>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.

Relevant context: Abramovich answered a call from Ukraine to "mediate" in the initial round of talks between Russia and Ukraine.

Previously, he's spent the last couple of decades acquiring assets, passports and friends in Western countries, so whilst there's definitely a lot of self-interest in his actions (he's avoided the main wave of sanctions) I imagine the war came as a massive shock to him and was the very last thing he wanted to happen. He has Ukranian ancestors and a daughter being outspokenly anti-Putin on social media. But he also spent time in Russian politics and was directly involved in Putin's rise to power.

In that context, the absence of direct criticism of Russia in statements put out by him and the club's press office is also notable. Only if his role in "mediation" turns out to be a significant one can we judge the absence of anything stronger to say on the matter as more than an attempt to reputation launder both sides

Re: Statement from Roman Abramovich

#74

Post by s_dev »

benjaminwootton wrote: post #60

The 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.

From an article on Sky News:

>It is not clear if his reference to "all victims" means just Ukrainians, or Russians as well.

I don't want to be cynical but this could be donated to "victims" in Russia. The Aggressor. Also the elephant in the room is why does he have 30 days to sell assets before sanctions. It should be frozen immediately.

Re: Statement from Roman Abramovich

#75

Post by bidirectional »

arrosenberg wrote: post #31
nindalf wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is literally a forum made for startups. Businesses that may lose money but are worth a lot. Does that ring a bell? Abramovich bought a club for £140m, invested around £1.5 billion in it, and now it’s worth twice that. It’s worth is based on what a prospective buyer will pay, not a multiple of earnings.

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.

That doesn't matter, someone will pay it. They won't struggly to find a buyer.

Owning one of the greatest teams in the world in the most fashionable part of one of the world's major city is basically just worth it as a vanity asset to a certain kind of billionaire.

Re: Statement from Roman Abramovich

#76

Post by bidirectional »

yosito wrote: post #70
nindalf wrote: post #43

Context for people unfamiliar with football/soccer: Roman Abramovich is a Russian oligarch who grew rich in the 90s by buying state owned companies at rigged auctions. He was close to the previous President Yeltsin and allegedly recommended that Yeltsin appoint Putin as his successor. His relations with Putin have remained cordial with Putin unlike some other oligarchs like Mikhail Khordokovsky, who crossed Putin and…

My first reaction was, "He lost it anyway, so why not make it look like a charitable donation that makes him look like one of the good guys?"

Donating all of the proceeds to the victims of what he explicitly calls the war in Ukraine is quite a statement. It's not something one would do if they wanted to remain in Putin's graces.

Re: Statement from Roman Abramovich

#77

Post by nceqs3 »

benjaminwootton wrote: post #60

The 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.

He admitted under oath in court that he paid billions of dollars of bribes to government officials and gangsters to acquire and protect his assets.

http://www.independent.ie/world-news/europe/chelsea-owner-ad...

Re: Statement from Roman Abramovich

#78

Post by dylan604 »

markvdb wrote: post #54
alexanderchr wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He even went as far as calling it a war. That's considered borderline treason in Russia by now.

"Liberation mission" is Vladimir's preferred newspeak.

Colbert had a bit with Putin calling it Peace Keeping. He's keeping this piece of Ukraine and this piece as well.

Re: Statement from Roman Abramovich

#79

Post by dylan604 »

kerneloftruth wrote: post #47
humanistbot wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"net proceeds" being the key phrase. This doesn't sound like he's donating all the money from the sale. It sounds like if he sells it for more than he originally paid for it, that extra will be donated.

That's what "net" means, yes.

It's soccer, so it could be the "net proceeds to bulge when Keppa gets beat"

Re: Statement from Roman Abramovich

#80

Post by parthdesai »

s_dev wrote: post #74
benjaminwootton wrote: post #60

The 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.

From an article on Sky News: >It is not clear if his reference to "all victims" means just Ukrainians, or Russians as well. I don't want to be cynical but this could be donated to "victims" in Russia. The Aggressor. Also the elephant in the room is why does he have 30 days to sell assets before sanctions. It should be frozen immediately.

A common person in Russia isn't the aggressor. That's like blaming entire western population for the shit their government does. Russian ruble has tanked significantly, which means things in Russia are gonna cost way more for an average person.
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