Guardian: Abramovich’s wealth detailed

The Russian authorities have allowed a rare glimpse into the sprawling wealth of Roman Abramovich with the release for the first time of details of his Russian bank accounts and a list of his luxury homes, cars and land

The assets of the Chelsea Football Club owner ranged from a modest VW Golf to a £200m chateau in the south of France, and emerged from a declaration required for next month’s state parliament election in the Far Eastern province of Chukotka, where Abramovich is standing to be a parliamentary deputy.

The details in the document, released on Wednesday by Russia‘s election commission, provide a snapshot of a billionaire oligarch on the rise again, after losing – according to Forbes magazine – two-thirds of his wealth in the global downturn. Abramovich is now thought to be worth more than $11bn, and is estimated to be Russia’s fourth richest man.

The file details his 10 homes in Russia, London, Colorado, France and the Caribbean, as well as land holdings, seven cars and, for the first time, the contents of 22 Russian bank accounts.

It shows that as of December 2010 he held 3.38bn roubles in cash in Russian accounts, the equivalent of £70m, and he earned £3m in interest on his bank deposits in the previous year.

“It is the first time it has been published in this format because of the new rules,” said his spokesman, John Mann, in Moscow. “This shows the interest income on his bank deposits. It is not his full income.”

The figures represent just a fraction of the 44-year-old’s oil fortune, much of which is held in his companies including Millhouse Capital, Eucla Investments Limited, Primerod International Limited, and Chelsea Limited, which owns the Premier League team in which he has invested at least £500m, including last month a record British transfer fee of £50m on the Spain and former Liverpool striker Fernando Torres.