The UK Foreign Office has announced an asset freeze against Chelsea director Eugene Tenenbaum, who is described by the club’s website as a "close associate" of Roman Abramovich.
The British government also confirmed that David Davidovich has been hit with both an asset freeze and a travel ban. Davidovich has been described as the “much lower profile right-hand man” of Blues owner Abramovich. Foreign Secretary Liz Truss has said: “We are tightening the ratchet on Putin’s war machine and targeting the circle of people closest to the Kremlin. We will keep going with sanctions until Putin fails in Ukraine. Nothing and no one is off the table.”
The fresh developments follow on from Abramovich being sanctioned by the UK government last month. The West London club are desperate to secure a new owner amid a budget crisis, with their funds dictated by the British government. UK sanctions were subsequently followed by the EU, which means that Abramovich's assets that are in EU territory could be taken and frozen.
Blues director Tenenbaum was formerly head of corporate finance at Sibneft, the oil company sold by Abramovich in 2006, and had been on the board at Evraz plc. When sanctions were placed on the Chelsea owner, Evraz, the steel company in which Abramovich is the largest shareholder, could contribute to the war against Ukraine and supply steel for Russian tanks, a claim Evraz has vehemently denied. Chelsea’s official website describes Ukrainian-born Tenenbaum as one of Abramovich’s “closest associates” having joined the board at Chelsea shortly after the takeover in 2003.
The EU have planned extra restrictions on importing steel, with Abramovich the largest shareholder for steel-mining business Evraz Plc. Evraz have released a statement claiming the business does not consider Abramovich - who has a 28.6% stake in the company - to be “a person exercising the effective control” of the company and said that sanctions applied by the UK and Canada don’t apply to the company itself.
Separately, Reuters have claimed that Abramovich, who had previously been listed as the ‘beneficial owner’ of Cyprus-based Ervington Investment Limited, handed full control of the company to Tenenbaum on February 24, the day Russia began the invasion of their neighbouring country. Tenenbaum told Reuters that his company had purchased Ervington from a trust in which Abramovich and his children were previously the beneficiaries. He also claimed that the transaction was in compliance with laws and regulations.
"Ervington is a company that I have worked with for many years," he said. "I know the company's investments and employees well, and buying Ervington provides me with an opportunity to continue to work with this business, under my control and for my, and the employees' benefit."
