Abramovich Divorce Settlement

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Introduction to Abramovich Divorce Settlement

Roman Abramovich is a billionaire from Russia. As per Forbes magazine, he was the 51^st richest person on the globe on 11^th March 2009 and was worth 8.5 billion USD.

Abramovich married Irina Malandina in October 1991. This was his second marriage. Irina and Roman had 5 children. These are as follows.

• Anna (aged 12 during the divorce)
• Arkady (aged 11)
• Sonya (aged 10)
• Arina (aged 4)
• Ilya (aged 2)

After the divorce was over, some friends of Irina believed that she and her children might relocate to the south of France.

Terms of Abramovich Divorce Settlement

Russia has a legal secretive system and this implies that precise details about the settlement would never be revealed to the public. However, there were reports regarding the following facts.

• It was estimated that Abramovich had an 11 billion pound fortune
• Irina was awarded property and cash estimated between 1 to 2 billion pounds
• The 2 residences in London at Chester Square and Eaton Square were offered to Irina
• The Fyning Hill Estate in Petersfield, West Sussex that was worth 18 million pounds was given to Irina

When Abramovich married Irina, he was a struggling businessman. Thus his complete wealth was built up during marital life. As a consequence of this fact, Irina had considerable bargaining power in the divorce settlement.

Russian court follow a rule that half of the wealth built up during the marriage must be offered to the wife. In this specific divorce case, almost the entire wealth of Roman was earned during marital life. Thus, it was obvious that Irina had accepted a substantially smaller amount.

Abramovich did not have a problem in making a payment for the divorce in cash. The reason was that he had sold vast shareholdings in the aluminum firm Rusal and the Russian oil giant Sibneft. He possessed about 7.5 billion pounds in cash.

Advantage of having a divorce settlement in Russia

As compared to English courts, Russian courts favor husbands. The divorce law in Russia very infrequently arranges for the payment of maintenance. So, some people are of the opinion that Abramovich filed a divorce petition in Russia to avoid the divorce proceedings in London. This couple was granted a quick divorce in Moscow.

After the divorce a spokesman announced that the divorce had taken place on a consensual basis. Both the parties had agreed with each other with respect to the financial settlement and arrangements for their kids.

Role of Vladimir Putin in this divorce

Roman Abramovich shares a father-son relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin. When the news of Abramovich's relation with former model Daria Zhukova (aged 24) became public, Putin advised Roman to clean up the act. Further, Roman decided to divorce Irina. It so happened that Irina gave Roman an ultimatum to select one lady between Irina and Daria. Roman declined to leave Daria and so Irina demanded a divorce.

Putin looks up to Roman as he would towards a favorite son. Putin is considered a real family man and he did not endorse Roman's affairs with Daria or the publicity this relation had caused. If Putin recommends something to Roman in personal life or in business, Roman tends to listen to Putin. Thus, Putin's suggestion must have obviously influenced Roman to offer an uncontested divorce.

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