Abramovich spotted at Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport
Oligarch believed to have spent a short time in the VIP lounge on a short stopover in Israel, before leaving for Istanbul
Roman Abramovich has been seen in the VIP lounge at Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion airport – before catching a flight onwards to Istanbul, Turkey.
The billionaire owner of Chelsea FC, who was subjected to sanctions by the UK government last week, was spotted in lounge at the Israeli airport on Monday.
A photograph obtained by Reuters showed the oligarch sitting in the airport’s VIP lounge with a face mask pulled down over his chin.
Reports suggested he plane used by Abramovich flew into Ben Gurion late on Sunday from Moscow.
The flight-tracking website Radarbox said the aircraft, which has the tail number LX-RAY, then took off on Monday for Istanbul.
Israel has imposed restrictions on private jets flying into the country since Russia invaded Ukraine – leaving such planes unable to remain on the ground for over 24 hours.
With concerns growing over reports that Russian oligarchs were hiding assets in Israel, Foreign Minister Yair Lapid issued a statement saying:”Israel will not be a route to bypass sanctions imposed on Russia by the United States and other western countries.”
On Monday, BBC’s Panorama broadcast claims that Abramovich was suspected of belonging to an organised crime group which cheated the Russian government out of £2 billion.
The claims revolved around deals to buy oil companies at a lower rate than he should have been allowed to two years after Vladimir Putin became president.
But the Chelsea owner’s lawyers said there was no basis for alleging he had made his fortune through criminality.
On Tuesday Abramovich’s jet landed in Moscow after a brief stopover in Istanbul.
The Russian oligarch, who also holds Israeli and Portuguese citizenship, has denied having close ties to Putin.
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