After Sibneft Sale Abramovich Can Now Buy Every Soccer Club in Britain

Although Roman Abramovich?s deal with state-run Gazprom, which bought 73 percent in his company Sibneft, has been widely regarded as an effective way to move all his assets out of Russia, his spokesman John Mann insists the tycoon is not ?cashing out? of his native country.

In an interview with the Sun John Mann said that Abramovich remains governor of far northern Chukotka province in Siberia, has various charitable interests in Russia and, thus, might make more investments there.

Selling Sibneft for $13 billion in his biggest ever business deal, Russia?s richest man Abramovich is now easily the world?s richest man in pure cash terms, and only members of the Saudi Royal family can compete with him. As Sun experts have calculated, his wealth in cash alone currently amounts to at least $14 billion.

If Abramovich were to deposit his billions with the Bank of England at the current base rate of 4.5 percent he would get approximately $630 million a year in interest.

The paper stresses that the tycoon?s fortune ?is now more than enough to buy Arsenal, Manchester United, Liverpool and every other soccer club in Britain?.

Abramovich paid Russia?s government a mere $10 million for a 51-percent stake in Sibneft in 1996. Even after topping up his holding, he has made a 12,000 percent profit.

But Mann insists that it is simply a business deal: ?Say you bought your house for 10,000 ten years ago and invested a lot in doing it up and the market went up ? so you sell up for 100,000. This is exactly the same. This is a company which Roman and senior managers have changed immeasurably.?

Abramovich?s empire once stretched from oil and gas to steel and aluminium, a TV station, milk processor, meat-packing business and stakes in airline Aeroflot and carmaker Gaz. It now simply consists of Chelsea ? in which he has invested $440 million.

Experts say Abramovich could have sold Sibneft for even more to a buyer other than Gazprom, but he chose the company that is close to Russian President Vladimir Putin in order to escape fate of Russian billionaires like Berezovsky, who lost most of his fortune and lives in exile, and Khodorkovsky, jailed for 8 years.