Extract from England’s ‘The Mail’ on the alleged poisoning incident yesterday (29)
“Roman Abramovich and Ukrainian negotiators were the victims of a suspected poisoning attack at peace talks, it emerged last night,” said The Daily Mail yesterday (29).
The reports further said the following:
“The Chelsea FC billionaire, who has been acting as an unofficial broker between warring Russia and Ukraine, was said to have ‘lost his sight for several hours’ after the incident.
“According to sources familiar with the incident, the two were targeted in a chemical weapon attack by Moscow hard-liners seeking to sabotage their efforts to end the conflict.
“Abramovich, along with another Russian entrepreneur, had taken part in the talks alongside Ukrainian MP Rustem Umerov, 39, and an unnamed countryman.
“The talks on 3 March concluded at around 10 p.m. with the men consuming only chocolate and water in the hour before their symptoms appeared back at their Kyiv apartment. The fourth delegate escaped unscathed.”
Who is Roman Abramovich?
- Roman Arkadyevich Abramovich, 55, is a Russian-Portuguese-Israeli businessman, philanthropist, oligarch, and politician
- He is of Jewish origin
- He is the primary owner of the private investment company, Millhouse Capital LLC
- Millhouse Capital LLC is a diversified investment company founded by Abramovich in 2001 and is headquartered in London
- Its reported total asset value is £ 357,800 billion (Rs. 138.4 quadrillion).
- He is best known outside Russia as the owner of Chelsea, a Premier League football club in England
- Abramovich was formerly the Governor of Chukotka Autonomous Okrug in Russia from 2000-08
- According to Forbes, Abramovich’s net worth in 2021 had been $ 14.5 billion (Rs. 5,610 billion)
- That made him the second-richest person in Israel, the 11th-richest in Russia, and the richest person in Portugal – the three countries where he holds citizenship
- Abramovich is said to have enriched himself in the years following the collapse of the Soviet Union (1988-91), obtaining Russian state-owned assets at prices far below market value in Russia’s controversial loans-for-shares privatisation programme
- Abramovich is considered to have a close relationship with incumbent Russian President Vladimir Putin
- Abramovich is one of seven oligarchs sanctioned by the UK Govt. over this year’s Russian invasion of Ukraine
- His assets have been frozen with a travel ban imposed too