Vladimir Putin told billionaire Roman Abramovich to 'get his act cleaned up' after reports emerged of his relationship with a model.
LONDON: Russian President Vladimir Putin told billionaire Roman Abramovich to 'get his act cleaned up' after reports emerged of his relationship with a 25-year-old former model, Abramovich's biographer said in an interview published on Thursday.
Abramovich's spokesman John Mann confirmed late on Tuesday that Abramovich and his wife of 15 years, a 39-year-old former Aeroflot air stewardess, had divorced "in Russia on a consensual basis and have agreed terms in respect of arrangements for their children and a financial settlement."
"Abramovich and Putin are incredibly close," Chris Hutchins, the Chelsea Football Club owner's biographer, told the Daily Mail.
"Putin regards Roman as something of a favourite son. When the rumours about Abramovich's private life started surfacing last year, Putin told him to get his act cleaned up.
"Putin is a real family man and did not approve of Roman's relationship with Daria or the publicity it has generated. He sees Abramovich as something of an ambassador for Russia and made it clear Abramovich should settle his personal affairs."
Abramovich was spotted in Paris this week with former model Daria Zhukova, the ex-girlfriend of Russian tennis star Marat Safin.
The Daily Mail said Abramovich had initially been opposed to granting his wife Irina a divorce, but shortly after the conversation with Putin agreed to a split.
Meanwhile, a top Russian newspaper said that Abramovich's ex-wife Irina agreed to a divorce settlement of "only $300 million" (228 million euros), less than one-sixtieth of the tycoon's reported $18.7 billion fortune.
The Vedomosti business daily in Moscow said two unnamed sources 'in Abramovich's circle' confirmed the $300 million figure, which does not include promised financial support for the couple's five children.
The sources said the couple were divorced in February in the remote Russian region of Chukotka where Abramovich is governor.
Mann declined to give details of the settlement when he announced the split.
Abramovich bought west London side Chelsea in a 140-million-pound ($270 million, 205-million-euro) deal in 2003 and he has bankrolled their transformation into European heavyweights, winning two Premiership titles already.
Last week, Forbes magazine ranked the 40-year-old former oil magnate as the 16th-richest man in the world, with an estimated personal wealth of $18.7 billion. He is the richest Russian and the second-richest man in Britain.
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