U.K. lawmakers unhappy that Abramovich's frozen Chelsea funds still not used for Ukraine

U.K. lawmakers frustrated as funds from the sale of Chelsea football club remain frozen, highlighting difficulties in using frozen assets for Ukraine.

U.K. lawmakers expressed frustration Wednesday that funds from the sale of the Chelsea football club have not yet gone to support Ukrainian war victims as had been promised nearly two years ago by the former owner, Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich.

Mr. Abramovich sold Chelsea in 2022 after being sanctioned by the British government for what it called his enabling of Russia's “brutal and barbaric invasion” of Ukraine.

He pledged to donate the £2.5 billion ($3.2 billion) from the sale to victims of the war. But almost 20 months later, the funds are still frozen in a bank account in an apparent disagreement with the British government over how they should be spent. The stalemate highlights the difficulty for Western governments to use frozen assets for Ukraine — even those that have been pledged by their owner.

“We are all completely baffled and frustrated that it has taken so long," said Lord Peter Ricketts, chair of the European Affairs Committee in the upper chamber of the U.K. parliament, which produced the report.

"We can’t understand why either Abramovich or the British government didn’t ensure that there was more clarity in the original undertaking which… would avoid arguments about exactly who in Ukraine would get this money,” Mr. Ricketts said.

The impasse “reflects badly on both Mr. Abramovich and the Government," the report said.

The frozen funds still belong to Mr. Abramovich, who sold Chelsea to a consortium fronted by Los Angeles Dodgers part-owner Todd Boehly. To move the funds, Mr. Abramovich must apply for a license that the British government has said is contingent on the money being used for “exclusively humanitarian purposes in Ukraine.”