Inside ex-Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich’s secret new life in Istanbul, where the Russian billionaire ‘rents a £20 million mansion for £40,000 a month’ while keeping a low profile after his British assets were frozen
- Roman Abramovich has stayed out of the limelight since he sold Chelsea FC
- Abramovich was sanctioned for his ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin
- It is now alleged that he is renting a luxury mansion in Istanbul, Turkey
Former Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich is lying low in a £20million mansion in Istanbul that he rents for £40,000 a month, a new report has claimed.
Little is known about the Russian billionaire’s whereabouts since he was penalized for his ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin and forced to sell Chelsea.
A new report of the mirror has claimed that Abramovich now lives in Istanbul’s wealthy Anadolu Hisari neighborhood, in a house overlooking the Bosphorus.
It is alleged that Abramovich rents premises from prominent stock exchange figure Ahmet Okumus and pays £40,000 a month to live there.
The mirror claim that the head of the Istanbul Real Estate Brokers Club revealed that it is Abramovich who is renting that property.
Roman Abramovich reportedly rents a mansion in the wealthy neighborhood of Anadolu Hisari
Abramovich has kept a low profile since being forced to sell Chelsea in 2022
The house Abramovich is said to be staying in was bought by Okumus ten years ago, after which it was picked up for £20 million.
There is some ambiguity about Abramovich’s reported living situation in Istanbul, with a Turkish media outlet reportedly flying a drone close to the property in December in an attempt to catch a glimpse of him – but failing.
Local residents in the area are also said to have remained tight-lipped when questioned by outsiders about Abramovich.
However, Russian money in Turkey is nothing new.
A report from the Turkish Statistical Institute describes how Russians closed more than 16,300 real estate transactions in 2022, up from 5,300 in 2021.
Todd Boehly (right) led a consortium last year that bought Chelsea from Abramovich
The Russian oligarch has been unconscious since he sold Chelsea, the club he bought back in 2003.
He announced his plans to sell the Premier League club in March last year, a few days after Russia invaded Ukraine.
Abramovich completely transformed Chelsea’s fortunes, investing more than £1.5 billion to make it a domestic and European powerhouse.
After being pressured to sell amid sanctions imposed on him, a US consortium – led by Todd Boehly – sided with London.or £4.25 billion in May last year.