ROMAN Abramovich has had 12 of his lavish properties seized by the French government, as part of a crackdown on the oligarch’s assets in the wake of the Ukraine invasion.
Among the properties seized is a large chateau on the French Riviera which was formerly a holiday home of the Queen’s uncle, King Edward VIII, after he abdicated the throne.
France has seized an astonishing £20 billion worth of property and cash belonging to Russian oligarchs including Abramovich since the start of the Ukraine war.
On Wednesday, France’s Economy and Finance Ministry confirmed that 12 properties belonging to the former Chelsea owner were among the assets frozen.
“They include homes, superyachts and helicopters, and add up to well over 25 billion euros,” a ministerial source said.
“There are 33 properties that have been frozen, including a dozen belonging to Roman Abramovich.
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“It is all part of the programme of sanctions being brought against the Russian Federation in response to its invasion of Ukraine.”
Freezing property assets means they cannot be sold or rented out.
These figures also include the equivalent of £19 billion in cash blocked on the French accounts of Russia’s Central Bank.
Specially created French companies were used to buy most of the properties so that they wouldn’t appear in the name of a Russian oligarch.
One of these is Chateau de la Croe, a 100-year-old detached villa in Cap d’Antibes, which was once the French Riviera holiday home of the Duke and Duchess of Windsor.
Abramovich, 55, bought the mansion in 2001 and spent some £30 million on renovations.
These included a 15-metre swimming pool on the roof and a gym and home cinema in the basement.
Today, the chateau would sell for around £90million, according to local estate agents.
The estate is owned by the French firm Croe France SA, which belongs to Abramovich.
Other assets belonging to Abramovich seized include his sprawling estate on St Barts, a French-controlled Caribbean island notorious as a party hotspot for the rich and famous.
The oligarch bought the huge site in 2009 for an estimated £70 million, around three times more than the previous most expensive Caribbean property at the time.
Formerly owned by David Rockefeller, the 70-acre site is built to resemble a Balinese village, and stretches along one of St Barts’ most famous nudist beaches.
Property in the Alpine ski resort of Meribel, as well as two in the world-famous Riviera resorts such as Cannes and Saint-Tropez have also been frozen.
It isn’t known whether a mansion in central Paris close to the Champs-Elysees worth more than £13m, which is owned by Abramovich’s four children and his ex-wife Irina, has also been seized.
France’s finance ministry has formed a task force made up of tax inspectors and customs officials to identify and confiscate property owned by Russians on an EU sanction list.
It comes as France expelled six alleged Russian spies it accused of “operating under diplomatic cover”.
The men and women had been sent back to Moscow following a lengthy investigation by the domestic security agency, a Foreign Ministry spokesman said.
Their inquiry uncovered “a secret operation conducted by Russian intelligence services on French soil,” the source said.
A close ally of President Putin, Abramovich is currently believed to be in Moscow.
He has seen a number of his assets sanctioned since the start of the war, including Chelsea Football Club, as well as his other British properties.
Abramovich also owns two huge Colorado mansions, bought within months of each other for $50 million, which could be targeted if the US government issues sanctions against him.
One is a 5,600 square foot ski lodge, and the other is a 200-acre 11-bed ranch, both in the resort of Snowmass Village, close to Aspen.
The oligarch, who made his money buying up former state oil and gas companies when the Soviet Union collapsed, is no stranger to big spending.
It was reported this week that Abramovich once spent £40k ordering takeaway sushi from London to be delivered to him in Azerbaijan.
Back in the early 2000s Abramovich had a craving for the Japanese cuisine from the now-closed Ubon restaurant in Canary Wharf, while sat 2500 miles away in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan.
And the hankering for sushi was so severe he paid to have plates of it flown over to him by private jet, as reported at the time by The Celeb Reportday Times.
Abramovich is claimed to have instructed an aide to put in an order for him and his pals worth £1,200.
It was then transferred by chauffer-driven limousine to Luton airport, whisked through security and onto a waiting private jet.
From there it flew the 2500 miles from London to the other side of Europe, before eventually ending up on Abramovich’s plate.
The entire operation cost a reported £40,000 in total and would have had Abramovich waiting some time before being able to tuck in.
Average flight time from London to Baku is 5hrs 30mins, and that’s without taking into consideration the time it took to prepare the food and ferry it to and from the airport.
Abramovich also spent more than $100 million in two days on two pieces of art back in May 2008.
He splurged around $33m on Lucian Freud’s ‘Benefits Supervisor Sleeping’, a day before splashing out some $86m on Francis Bacon’s ‘Triptych’.
Today, however, Abramovich has resorted to begging his rich pals for a $1 million loan so he can pay his staff, according to reports.
He is allegedly desperately asking friends for loans to pay his $750,000-a-week staff payroll.
This includes the staff manning his multiple luxury superyachts, as well as his several mansions.
But his rich pals are extremely wary of lending him any money after the UK and the EU slapped him with sanctions.
A source told Page Six: “Roman is asking some of his closest powerful friends to let him borrow $1 million.
“He is saying he has never missed payroll for his staff, which is $750,000 a week, and with his assets frozen, he can’t pay his people.”
They went on“He has reached out to Hollywood producer and director Brett Ratner and the Rothschild family, among many others, for money, but – while they are good friends with Roman – they have not agreed to give him money, because either they do not have that in liquid cash, or moreover it is not clear what are the repercussions under international law.”
But Abramovich has dismissed claims he asked American pals for loans, telling City AM the allegations were “false”.
A spokesperson for the oligarch told the outlet he “has not spoken with, nor asked for funds from these individuals”.
It comes as the football boss had a private meeting with Vladimir Putin to plead with him to end the war in Ukraine last week.
He has reportedly been involved in desperate peace negotiations since the early days of the conflict.
Last month, it was reported that Abramovich was the victim of a suspected chemical weapon poisoning following talks in Kyiv.
Reports claimed he went blind for several hours and skin peeled off his hands and face after he joined peace talks between Russia and Ukraine.
He is said to have suffered alarming symptoms along with two Ukrainian peace negotiators, after reportedly eating poisoned chocolates at the peace talks.
The alleged attack was blamed on hardliners in Moscow who want to sabotage the talks and continue Putin’s bloody war, although some said Abramovich may have been poisoned by mistake.
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Symptoms included red eyes, constant and painful tearing, and peeling skin on their faces and hands, reports the Wall Street Journal.
Abramovich also lost his sight for several hours as a result of the attack in the Ukraine capital Kyiv earlier this month, according to The Guardian.
