Punts and Pounds
The purchase of the English football club Chelsea by Governor of Chukotka Roman Abramovich was commented on in Anadyr (the capital of Chukotka), Moscow, and London. Business analysts, sports commentators, and even Club of the Jolly and Resourceful (KVN) players gave their assessments. Amateur geopoliticians added their two cents’ worth to the discussion with opinions ranging from “Hurray! Russian capital has successfully made it onto the international scene,” to “Help! Russian petrodollars are flowing to the West.” Naturally enough, the question “Who is Mr. Abramovich?” worried Chelsea fans most of all.
After buying the club outright, Mr. Abramovich continually reminded residents of football’s homeland of his name by acquiring new players.
Local papers regularly published rumors that some other Russian oligarch was interested in another English football club, but these rumors were never confirmed.
Mr. Abramovich had little to do with sports news. In a rating of Great Britain’s wealthiest residents published in the Sunday Times in October 2003, his name appeared in first place. According to the newspaper, Mr. Abramovich spent more time on the shores of Foggy Albion than on the shores of the Chukchi Sea, so he had the right to be called a British resident. However, it was not only a matter of money, even if the visitor from Chukotka earned more than Sir Paul McCartney, Joan Rowling, or Queen Elizabeth. The point was that part of this money had been spent on British national property. In his own time, Mohammed Al Fayed had accomplished something similar by buying another national symbol, Harrods of London.
It is possible that, unlike the Al Fayeds, the Abramoviches will never try to marry into the British Royal Family, but this is no longer important. What is important is that the name Abramovich has entered the history of the United Kingdom for all time. Or, to put it in business language, the advertising campaign to promote the Abramovich brand in Great Britain has been a success.
All the Article in Russian as of Jan. 12, 2004
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