Jewish Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich just lost about $450 million due the nosedive that the Russian Ruble has taken this week against the Dollar. And his partner in the British Chelsea soccer team Alisher Usmanov lost a bit more than $800 million.
So far this year the Russian Ruble has lost as much as 60% of its value against Western currencies. This is attributed to the flight of foreign capital from the country as investors pulled out due to Russia’s actions in Ukraine earlier this year. Also, sanctions by the EU and the US imposed on Russia because of its Ukrainian incursions and the recent drop in the price of oil, Russia’s biggest export, have crippled its economy.
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Chelsea Soccer fans may be hoping that this will force Abramovich to sell his share of the team in order to raise capital. The team’s former manager Andre Villas-Boas, who lasted in that position for only 8 months, has put the blame for the team’s recent woes squarely on the Russian billionaire’s shoulders. He feels that Abramovich’s legal problems distracted him from properly running the team.
The Portuguese Villas-Boas told The Telegraph, “I arrived at a difficult time in the private life of the chairman, who was rarely present. This clearly had an effect. Then I was surprised and I am still surprised that the chairman’s intentions changed. When I went there the idea was to rebuild the team.”
