NewStats: 3,261,110 , 8,173,053 topics. Date: Wednesday, 28 May 2025 at 08:58 AM 5b736p

A BBC investigation has uncovered new evidence about the corrupt deals that made Roman Abramovich's fortune.

The Chelsea owner made billions after buying an oil company from the Russian government in a rigged auction in 1995.

Mr Abramovich paid around $250m (£190m) for Sibneft, before selling it back to the Russian government for $13bn in 2005.

His lawyers say there is no basis for alleging he has amassed very substantial wealth through criminality.

The Russian billionaire was sanctioned by the UK government last week because of his links to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Mr Abramovich's assets have been frozen and he has been disqualified as a director of Chelsea Football Club.

What do sanctions mean for Chelsea?
Who are the mega-rich Russians facing sanctions?

The Russian billionaire has already itted in a UK court that he made corrupt payments to help get the Sibneft deal off the ground.

He was being sued in London by his former business associate Boris Berezovsky in 2012.

Mr Abramovich won the case, but he described in court how the original Sibneft auction was rigged in his favour and how he gave Mr Berezovsky $10m to pay off a Kremlin official.

BBC Panorama has obtained a document that is thought to have been smuggled out of Russia.

The information was given to the programme by a confidential source, who says it was secretly copied from files held on Mr Abramovich by Russian law enforcement agencies.

The BBC cannot that, but checks with other sources in Russia have backed up many of the details in the five-page document.

The document says that the Russian government was cheated out of $2.7bn in the Sibneft deal - a claim ed by a 1997 Russian parliamentary investigation. The document also says that the Russian authorities wanted to charge Mr Abramovich with fraud.

It says: "The Dept. of Economic Crimes investigators came to the conclusion that if Abramovich could be brought to trial he would have faced accusations of fraud… by an organised criminal group."

Roman Abramovich's Dirty Money is on BBC One, Monday 14 March, at 20:00 GMT and on BBCiPlayer afterwards

Panorama tracked down Russia's former chief prosecutor, who investigated the deal in the 1990s.

Yuri Skuratov did not know about the secret document, but he independently confirmed many of the details about the Sibneft sale.

Mr Skuratov told the programme: "Basically, it was a fraudulent scheme, where those who took part in the privatisation formed one criminal group that allowed Abramovich and Berezovsky to trick the government and not pay the money that this company was really worth."

The document also suggests Mr Abramovich was protected by former Russian President Boris Yeltsin.

It says law enforcement files on Mr Abramovich were moved to the Kremlin and that an investigation by Mr Skuratov was stopped by the president.

The document says: "Skuratov was preparing a criminal case for the confiscation of Sibneft on the basis of the investigation of its privatisation. The investigation was stopped by President Yeltsin … Skuratov was dismissed from his office."

Mr Skuratov was sacked after the release of a sex tape in 1999. He says it was a stitch-up to discredit him and his investigation.

He said: "This whole thing was obviously political, because in my investigations I came very close to the family of Boris Yeltsin, including via this investigation of the Sibneft privatisation."

Mr Abramovich remained in the Kremlin inner circle when Vladimir Putin came to power in 2000.

The document contains details of another rigged auction two years later, involving a Russian oil company called Slavneft.

Mr Abramovich formed a partnership with another firm to buy Slavneft, but a rival Chinese company was planning to bid almost twice as much.

Many powerful people - from the Kremlin to the Russian parliament - would have stood to lose out if the Chinese won the auction

The document says that a member of the Chinese delegation was kidnapped when they arrived in Moscow for the auction.

"CNPC, Chinese company, a very strong competitor, had to withdraw from the auction after one of its representatives was kidnapped upon arrival at Moscow Airport and was released only after the company declared its withdrawal."

The kidnapping story is backed up by independent sources who did not know about the document.

Vladimir Milov was Russia's deputy energy minister in the run up to the Slavneft sale. He didn't comment on the kidnapping story, but he said senior political figures had already decided that Mr Abramovich's partnership would win the auction.

"I said, look, the Chinese want to come in and they want to pay a much bigger price. They say it doesn't matter, shut up, none of your business. It's already decided. Slavneft goes to Abramovich, the price is agreed. The Chinese will be dragged out somehow."

There is no suggestion that Mr Abramovich knew anything about the kidnapping plot, or played any part in it.

His lawyers told the BBC the kidnap claim "is entirely unsubstantiated" and he has "no knowledge of such incident".

Different factions had been fighting for control of Slavneft and there was widespread opposition to the Chinese bid.

Whatever the reason for the Chinese withdrawal, Mr Abramovich's partnership had the only bid left on the table. And they bought Slavneft at a knockdown price.

Mr Abramovich's lawyers say allegations of corruption in the Slavneft and Sibneft deals are false, and he denies he was protected by Mr Yeltsin.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-60736185

How else do you think most Russian oligarchs made their money?
There was absolute chaos in 1990-ies in Russia, no proper bookkeeping, no one could tell for sure what was where and how much. To put it more precisely, almost no one. Those who did and had good connections simply stole billions.

Some of them took over the existing infrastructure built during Soviet times practically for free. Some of this infrastructure were ports, oil terminals, railroads and so on.
Back then In Soviet Union all companies were state owned. When Russia turned to democracy all those companies were sold to certain people for extremely cheap prices and so in a blink of an eye they became oligarhs.
Most are fantastically corrupt individuals.

Edit:some are already disturbing me about Russia being a communist country/practicing communism.
There is a difference between democracy and communism which is an economic system.

Democracy is primarily a political system while communism is primarily an economic system. Democracy and communism can exist together, in exclusion of one another, or neither may exist.

Nothing about modern Russia is communist. It is not a classless society where all property is communally-owned. It is a capitalist society wherein people own private property, businesses make profits, and workers are paid wages.

Russia is technically a democracy because its leaders are elected, but it's very flawed democracy as elections are rigged and opposition is stifled.
Simple please understand that.

his end is very near

Na normal thing, em don tay wey Brits dey eye to steal Chelsea, they will still ground it like the way they grounded Man UTD.

Thieves

GEJ - This is not corruption,

[img]https://i./3OJxY.gif[/img]

....it's just common stealing!

all i see are mere allegations. What does this has to do with chelsea?

Are they helping russia citizen to do the investigation or they just want cheap blackmail on chelsea owner

☹️☹️☹️


Is Russian government
complaining❓


Why BBC wan take Togamycin™ injection
for another person gonorrhea, wey
the person sef dey hide❓❓


Make una park well jor ..☹️☹️☹️

Bad news

This is deep

Bought from government: $250m in 1995.
Sold back to government: $13000m in 2005.
Profit: 13000 - 250 = 12750.
$12,750,000,000 in just 10 years!
That's $1,275,000,000 million in a year.
That amounts to $106,250,000 in a month and an average of $3,541,666.67 every day.
In an hour, the amount is $147,569.44 which is $2459.49 in a minute or $40.99 per second!!
At the official rate of 415.32 naira to a dollar, it means he was making 17,023.97 naira every second for 10 straight year!
Hold on a sec...
17,023.97 naira per second is just the amount from the sale of the firm.
How much money did he make from operating the firm itself within that period?
It's a gas company oo!!!
I guess we'll never know.
MONEY!
MONEY!!
MONEY!!!

No be small thing ooo
UK govt just dey look for loopholes to finish this man because of the hatred for what Putin is currently doing in Ukraine.
God dey shhhha

Anything to bring down the man

NwaNimo1:


https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-60736185

Wetin concern UK ,US and NATO countries how he made his wealth , Na their money he take These same countries if you don't know are safe heaven for corrupt billionaires running from China and Russia

Na wah

Comradewhy:
How else do you think most Russian oligarchs made their money?
There was absolute chaos in 1990-ies in Russia, no proper bookkeeping, no one could tell for sure what was where and how much. To put it more precisely, almost no one. Those who did and had good connections simply stole billions.

Some of them took over the existing infrastructure built during Soviet times practically for free. Some of this infrastructure were ports, oil terminals, railroads and so on.
Back then In Soviet Union all companies were state owned. When Russia turned to democracy all those companies were sold to certain people for extremely cheap prices and so in a blink of an eye they became oligarhs.
Most are fantastically corrupt individuals.

This is happening in naija already

Wow and you allowed him to keep investing in your country?

This is nothing short of state theft. The very thing Communists were criticized about.

And how is that BBC's headache?

And for years you let him invest in the UK?

In reality, the west is the problem of the world...

This ones no get better talk 4 mouth. Wat there business. They are now helping Russia to do there investigations.

seunlayi:


This is happening in naija already

Really?

Chelsea fans,the end is near ,all those trophies are won with corrupt money

I knew this will happen..... If this man wasn't corrupt, Penaldo wouldn't have won Ballon dor....

He had to bribe people so as to make Rapenaldo win Ballon dor. Now Chelsea the agbero irresponsible club with irresponsible fans will suffer it .

He should be sent to jail and all the trophies Chelsea won the last 19 years should be awarded to Arsenal.

He is a business man, in 1995 Putin wasn't the president then.

All of a sudden, U.k now cares about a fraud on the Russian people, But look away on African POLITICAL THIEVES. Who brings our heritage to their country on a daily basis.

Fact is; It would almost be impossible to find a Billionaire who did not engage in some form of corrupt deals in making his fortune.

No how dem clean nyash reach wey you no go still find small shit inside.

What sort of stupid witch-hunt is this? Smells almost like envy. So let's say he stole a couple of billions dollars from the Russian federation, what has that got to do with the British government and is this the reason for the unnecessary sanctions?
Imagine investigating how a person made his wealth all the way back to 1995 just because you are looking for a reason to seize his assets.

He should be put behind bars.

This is noise.

No real Billionaires in the world that is not favoured by government policies and lobby. JP Morgan, Chevron and co in America
The Nigerian government has done more than that for Dangote and his likes
they should spare us all these rubbish