Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich yesterday confirmed that he will sell English football powerhouse Chelsea, the English football powerhouse he has owned since 2003. The sale of Chelsea is the biggest example of Western pressure forcing. Russian oligarchs had to part with their precious assets.
Abramovich said the net proceeds from the sale would be “for the benefit of all victims of the war in Ukraine”. He will ask for at least $2.5 billion.
Wait, what is an oligarch?
We’ve been using the term a lot lately, so a definition is needed: In general, a financier is an elite individual with significant political influence in society. Oligarchy is a form of government characterized by a few (usually corrupt) oligarchs with non-dominant power.
So why are they so important in Russia?
To answer this question, we must go back to the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. In the years following the collapse, the country now known as Russia began the process of privatizing many of its assets. valuable property held by the government during communist times. .
But the auctions for these properties are rigged like a Monopoly game when we are the bankers. And if you are politically connected, you can get extremely valuable business deals at extremely discounted prices. Abramovich’s story is a prime example of how many tycoons have made their fortunes.
In 1995, Abramovich bought back 50% of the shares of Siberian Petroleum Company (abbreviated as Sibneft) for the lowest price of about 100 million USD, and then acquired most of the shares.
10 years later, Russian energy giant Gazprom acquired Sibneft for more than $13 billion. Abramovich earned about $10 billion from the proceeds.
Abramovich has repeatedly denied having a relationship with Russian President Putin, and he is not one of a number of financiers sanctioned by the West in recent days. But he clearly feels he will be next on the target list as Western nations try to wrest luxury goods from Russian billionaires.
And these seizures started. German authorities say they have owned a 512ft superyacht owned by Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov in the port city of Hamburg.
Nice news