Leaked documents reveal Abramovich is still connected to Vitesse

Roman Abramovich, who secretly bankrolled the Dutch football club Vitesse Arnhem while he was Chelsea owner, retains a financial connection to the club that continues to this day, leaked documents appear to show.

The arrangements, uncovered by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism (TBIJ) and the Guardian, raise fresh questions about Abramovich’s ongoing involvement in the Dutch club. He was subjected to UK and EU sanctions following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The findings come three weeks after Vitesse was docked a historic 18 points by the Dutch football association, condemning the club to relegation for the first time in 35 years and leaving it in financial turmoil.

The club has been under investigation by the Ministry of Economic Affairs and the Dutch football association (the KNVB) over its Russian ties after reporting by TBIJ and the Guardian revealed a secret network of loans connecting its two previous owners with Abramovich.

The latest documents, part of the Cyprus Confidential files shared by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists and Paper Trail Media, reveal that Abramovich was also the source of virtually all the money used to fund Vitesse by its current owner, Valery Oyf.

Oyf, who has owned the club since 2018, is a longtime business associate of Abramovich and was a senior figure at the oligarch’s Russian oil giant Sibneft. However, Oyf has previously denied that any of his funding for Vitesse came from Abramovich. Both Chelsea, under Abramovich, and Vitesse have previously denied any financial connections.

Oyf owns Vitesse directly but used an offshore company called Matteson Overseas Ltd to provide the club with funding and financial guarantees. Leaked documents seen by TBIJ show that while Oyf officially owns Matteson, its funding came from Abramovich. The oligarch almost entirely bankrolled Matteson, and his employees set up and ran its day-to-day operations. Jersey-registered Matteson also shares a nominee director with several of Abramovich’s companies.

Abramovich’s companies loaned Matteson nearly $200m, which was then almost entirely invested in other entities linked to the oligarch and his asset management company, Millhouse Capital. Profits generated were used to pay off loan debt and fund further ventures, including Vitesse.

Others included various Millhouse-led projects to invest in listed companies such as Evraz and Highland Gold, mining concessions in Russia, and large-scale securities investment.

The documents stem from Meritservus, a Cyprus-based financial services company which administered much of Abramovich’s offshore network. The files show Meritservus also acted for several Oyf companies which were heavily linked to Abramovich.

The revelations raise fresh questions around Abramovich’s influence over the Dutch club, once referred to as “Chelsea B” because of the close relationship between the two clubs. During Abramovich’s tenure as Chelsea owner, his club loaned dozens of players to Vitesse including Mason Mount, Dominic Solanke, Armando Broja and Nemanja Matic.

Rules set by Uefa, the European football confederation, hold that clubs which play against each other must be independently owned and run. They state that “no individual or legal entity may have control or influence over more than one club participating in a Uefa club competition”.

More broadly, the findings raise serious questions over Abramovich’s ability to skirt UK and EU sanctions and protect his assets with the help of associates such as Oyf.

Oyf also acted as director for Abramovich’s company Greenleas International in early 2022, during which time he greenlit the sale of billions of dollars of assets just weeks before Abramovich was sanctioned.

One of those deals included the sale of $61m shares in Russian search engine Yandex to Oyf’s own company.

Oyf has not been sanctioned. Other prominent associates of Abramovich, such as Eugene Tenenbaum, Eugene Shvidler and David Davidovich, have been sanctioned in the UK but not the EU.

Last year, TBIJ and the Guardian found Abramovich had used a complex network of offshore companies to lend at least €117m to Vitesse under its two previous owners, Merab Jordania and Alexander Chigirinsky, who are both known to be close to the oligarch.

Oyf, who bought Vitesse from Chigirinsky in 2018, announced his decision to sell the club in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine but has not yet done so. The club has since hit dire financial straits and is at risk of having its professional licence revoked, or even bankruptcy, if a rescue plan is not agreed soon.

Earlier this year, the KNVB rejected a proposed takeover of the club by US investment outfit Common Partners, saying the company had not provided enough information about the ultimate source of its funds.

The KNVB told TBIJ that it “expects from Vitesse that it shows that it acts in accordance with the applicable rules and regulations on the EU sanctions before any transfer of shares of Vitesse will be approved.”

Valery Oyf, Roman Abramovich, and Meritservus were approached for comment for this article but did not respond. Vitesse declined to comment.