That's quite the statement coming from one of Russia's biggest oligarch.
If he's unlucky, it's nerve poison.
sed -e 's;"special military operation";"special" military operation;'
(I'd be surprised if arms dealers base their pricing off your net worth)
.. I'm gonna pay you guys back, let me just sell this stuff and skip town for a holiday while I work this out..
Plus, I don't think Abramovich really cares of any investigative journalist finds this never came true
Previously, he's spent the last couple of decades acquiring assets, passports and friends in Western countries, so whilst there's definitely a lot of self-interest in his actions (he's avoided the main wave of sanctions) I imagine the war came as a massive shock to him and was the very last thing he wanted to happen. He has Ukranian ancestors and a daughter being outspokenly anti-Putin on social media. But he also spent time in Russian politics and was directly involved in Putin's rise to power.
In that context, the absence of direct criticism of Russia in statements put out by him and the club's press office is also notable. Only if his role in "mediation" turns out to be a significant one can we judge the absence of anything stronger to say on the matter as more than an attempt to reputation launder both sides
No, his statement clearly follows and enforces Putin's propaganda narrative of the separation between suffering people of Ukraine whom Russia supposedly came to "liberate" and the supposedly illegitimate "Hunta" government whom Russia is supposedly fighting.
Basically Abramovich managed to buy himself a grace period in England to be able to weasel out without devastating losses (and to save his bottom from the future war crimes trial). The guy in reality is total sh%t and is fully responsible for what happens in Ukraine like the rest of the Putin's oligarchs.
This statement was measured and weighted dozens of times by the army of lawyers and advisers.
There is NOTHING sincere in it.
You don't have to buy this BS.
Abramovich bought a club for £140m, invested around £1.5 billion in it, and now it’s worth twice that. It’s worth is based on what a prospective buyer will pay, not a multiple of earnings.
The argument you are making is equivalent to 'now that he won't pay for the gas, who will buy the Lambo?'
Owning one of the greatest teams in the world in the most fashionable part of one of the world's major city is basically just worth it as a vanity asset to a certain kind of billionaire.
Is FC going to double next year? And the year after?
The interesting part in this is not that will sell a club, is that will announced that will sell all his properties in UK, in a context of big economic sanctions.
You didn't list the most popular reason: Money laundering.