Roman Abramovich Operated as a 'Political Godfather', Court Hears

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Chelsea Football Club owner Roman Abramovich operated in a Russian state in which the ''rule of law'' had disappeared, where police were ''corrupt'', courts ''open to manipulation'' and businessmen needed access to a ''political godfather'', a High Court judge heard today.

A barrister representing the billionaire Russian businessman told Mrs Justice Gloster that ''quite extraordinary conditions'' prevailed in Russia following the collapse of communism in 1992 and said it was ''not easy'' for English lawyers to assess the behaviour of people who lived in ''such a world''.

Jonathan Sumption QC described Russia in the 1990s as he summarised Mr Abramovich's defence in a multi-billion pound legal battle at the Commercial Court in London.

Mr Abramovich is being sued for more than £3 billion by fellow Russian oligarch Boris Berezovsky in a case which began this week and is expected to last for more than two months.

Mr Berezovsky is claiming Mr Abramovich ''intimidated'' him into selling shares in Russian oil company Sibneft at a fraction of their value - and alleging breach of trust and breach of contract.

Mr Abramovich denies the allegations. » | Tuesday, October 04, 2011

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Battle of the Oligarchs as Roman Abramovich and Boris Berezovsky Appear at High Court
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Roman Abramovich forced fellow oligarch Boris Berozovsky [sic] to sell him billions of pounds of shares cheaply by threatening that Vladimir Putin would seize his assets if he did not comply, a court heard.

It is claimed Abramovich, the billionaire owner of Chelsea Football Club, conned his former friend and mentor out of more than £2 billion.

The case saw two of Britain’s richest men go head to head as they made allegations about Kremlin intrigue and protection rackets in a High Court case worth £3.5bn.

It is thought special security measures have included sweeping the court for bombs and ensuring the building is sniper-proof.

In one of the only times the pair have come face to face in more than ten years after they fell out following a meeting the pair sat at opposite ends of a court room in London, dressed in expensive suits and surrounded by their entourage and dozens of highly-paid lawyers.

Berezovsky claims that he was threatened at a meeting in his mansion in Cap d’Antibe[s] in the south of France and forced to sell his shares in Sibneft, a Russian oil and gas conglomerate the two men had created with a third partner.

Abramovich is said to have vowed to get Putin, then the president and now the prime minister of Russia, to reclaim Berezovsky’s assets and to prevent the release of one his friends from jail.

It was claimed the Chelsea owner was “a man to whom wealth and influence mattered more than friendship and loyalty,” said Laurence Rabinowitz QC representing Berezovsky. » | Duncan Gardham, Security Correspondent | Monday, October 03, 2011

Roman Abramovich Declares Assets
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Roman Abramovich, the Russian oligarch, has declared his assets for the first time in more than a decade, disclosing that he has 16 properties, seven cars, 22 bank accounts, six companies, and one football club.

The 44-year-old businessman and owner of Chelsea Football Club made the declaration as part of a campaign to run for re-election as a local MP in Chukotka, a remote region in Russia's far east which he used to run on the Kremlin's behalf.

The disclosure is part of President Dmitry Medvedev's anti-corruption drive as he pushes all politicians to declare their assets.

Mr Abramovich's declaration listed seven properties in Britain, two in the United States, three in France, and four in Russia.

They are known to include two houses in Lowndes Square, Belgravia, which are together estimated to be worth up to £150 million; a house in the South of France once used by Edward VIII and Wallace Simpson which he is thought to have spent £30 million; his main Moscow residence, two properties in Aspen, Colorado together worth £30 million, and a luxurious residence in the Caribbean worth £56 million.

The publicity-shy tycoon also disclosed that he owned seven cars, mostly a mixture of high-end Mercedes and BMWs that would altogether cost an estimated £650,000 to buy new. >>> Andrew Osborn, Moscow | Thursday, February 17, 2011

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Sunday Times Rich List 2010: Britain's Richest See Wealth Rise by One Third
THE TELEGRAPH: The collective wealth of Britain’s 1,000 richest people has increased by almost a third in the past year despite the uncertain economy, according to the Sunday Times Rich List 2010.

The multimillionaires are worth £335.5 billion, up £77.265 billion (29.9 per cent) on last year, according to the latest edition of The Sunday Times’ Rich List 2010.

The rise is easily the largest annual increase in the 22 years that the survey has been carried out.

In 1997, when Labour came to power, the collective wealth of the then richest 1,000, was just £98.99 billion. In total, the number of billionaires in this year’s list has risen from 43 to 53.

The findings are likely to prove controversial, coming just ahead of the general election and with spending cuts and tax rises expected from whichever party wins.

Top of the Sunday Times Rich List 2010 again is Lakshmi Mittal, the steel tycoon, whose fortune has more than doubled from £10.8 billion last year to £22.45 billion.

He is followed by: Roman Abramovich, the oil and industry magnate and owner of Chelsea FC, worth £7.4bn - up six per cent on last year; the Duke of Westminster, the property owner, now worth £6.75bn, an increase of four per cent; and Ernesto and Kirsty Bertarelli, whose £5,950 million wealth, based on pharmaceuticals, has increased by 20 per cent. Kirsty Bertarelli is also considered the richest woman in the list. >>> Jasper Copping | Saturday, April 24, 2010

An Orgy of Excess for Roman Abramovich, the Man Raised in Hardship in Siberia: From Selling Plastic Ducks to Buying Luxurious Yachts and Prized Works of Art
Photo of Roman Abramovich, who lives under constant fear of assassination, courtesy of Google Images
DAILY EXPRESS: LAST week Roman Abramovich spent £61m on just two paintings to add to the fleet of yachts, homes and luxury toys amassed by a billionaire who seems to spend his money like there’s no tomorrow...

The russians call it “muzhik”. It used to mean “peasant man” but it now translates as “nouveau riche”. And after growing up as an orphan close to the Arctic Circle, being so very newly rich clearly drives Roman Abramovich.



The 41-year-old owner of Chelsea Football Club, Britain’s richest man and the 16th richest in the world, is worth an astronomical £12billion and he certainly knows how to spend it. 



It was rumoured at the weekend that the buyer of both Francis Bacon’s 1976 Triptych (sold for £44million) and the controversial Benefits Supervisor Sleeping by Lucian Freud (£17million – a world record for a living artist), sold at auctions in New York last week, is none other than the former Lada-driving, plastic duck salesman from Siberia.

When you’ve known hardship as Roman has and now exist under constant threat of assassination, perhaps there’s little point in letting your hard-won roubles accumulate in the bank. Here [at the Daily Express] we reveal how this highly secretive man likes to splash just some of his mega-cash… >>> By Jane Warren | May 20, 2008

The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback - UK)
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Hardback - UK)