Chelsea owner Abramovich loses over nine billion dollars

A Russian business magazine – Finans – has claimed that Chelsea’s billionaire owner Roman Abramovich's total wealth has fallen from 23 billion dollars to 13.9 billion dollars.

Though he still remains second on the list of Russia's most wealthy individuals, the combined fortunes of Abramovich and 48 other rich Russians has slid by 69 per cent to 151 billion dollars, mirroring the 67 per cent decline in the Moscow Interbank Currency Exchange or Micex Index.

However, Abramovich was still voted "the most interesting billionaire" by Finans readers, winning 49 per cent of the vote.

Chelsea have consistently denied any correlation between Abramovich's financial situation and what chief executive Peter Kenyon has described as a "line by line" review of the club's business.

However, Chelsea has set a target of becoming financially self-sufficient on an annual basis from July.

The club's most recent financial figures, published on Friday, show that Chelsea lost 66 million pounds last year and that Abramovich has ploughed more than 700 million pounds into the club since 2003.