Labour refuses setting specific deadline for Roman Abramovich’s £2.6bn Chelsea payout to Ukrainian humanitarian causes

Ministers have declined to set a date for the Russians’ legal team to transfer the funds.

The money remains frozen in a British bank account after Abramovich was forced to sell Chelsea in May 2022.

Parliamentary under-secretary of state Uma Kumaran previously confirmed that a 90-day licence period had expired with no progress and did not set a new timeframe or confirm when court proceedings would begin.

Liberal Democrats foreign affairs spokesman Calum Miller asked Ed Miliband on the matter during the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office oral questions today.

The Foreign Secretary did not commit to a deadline and claimed ministers are “absolutely determined” to act.

In the House of Commons, Miliband said: “Let me directly deal with the most substantive part of his question.

“I think it is shared across this House that the ill-gotten gains of Russia and Russian oligarchs must be used for the right purposes, not the wrong purposes.

“I think that not just on the question he raised – and I want to be careful what I say about that because of legal processes, but we are absolutely determined to take action on the question he raised around Chelsea.

“But more broadly, one of the things that we will be urging in the coming months is our EU partners and in Britain us moving on Russian sovereign assets more generally, because we know that one of the most important things we need to do is give proper support to Ukraine through this winter and beyond, and Russian sovereign assets are a very ideal way to do that.”

Milar criticised the response he received from the Foreign Secretary, saying: “It is completely unacceptable that over £2.6bn meant for Ukrainian war victims continues to sit unused in a British bank account.

“The Government say they are ‘absolutely determined’ to resolve this, but its refusal to set a firm deadline tells a very different story.

“Empty promises mean nothing to the people of Ukraine who are enduring unimaginable hardship today, while Roman Abramovich’s lawyers kick the can down the road.

“The Foreign Secretary must stop dragging his feet and take Abramovich to court.”

The former Chelsea owner was sanctioned by former Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s UK Government after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine due to his close ties with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

In December 2025, former Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and ex-Chancellor Rachel Reeves both gave Abramovich a “final chance” to donate the funds.

No action was taken, and the money has sat in a UK bank account for over four years since the Russian sold Chelsea.

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