Abramovich questioned on tax-break jobs claim

Chelsea Football Club owner Roman Abramovich set up companies with primarily disabled staff to take advantage of tax exemptions, a lawyer suggested in a London court yesterday.

The Russian billionaire businessman told the lawyer “We’ve done it”, but said he did not recall why. He said the disabled workers were “real people” who were “paid salaries”.

Mr Abramovich, 45, is being sued for billions of pounds by exiled Russian oligarch Boris Berezovsky, 65, in a trial at the Commercial Court in London.

Mr Berezovsky says Mr Abramovich “betrayed” him and “intimidated” him into selling shares in Russian oil company Sibneft for a “mere $1.3 billion” (£800 million) – “a fraction of their true worth”.

He alleges breach of trust and breach of contract, and is claiming more than £3bn in damages.Mr Abramovich denies both the allegations and that Mr Berezovsky is entitled to damages. He says Mr Berezovsky was paid millions of pounds for his services as a “political godfather” but was not a business partner.

The court has heard that Mr Berezovsky “fled Russia,” in late 2000, after a fall-out with then president Vladimir Putin. The trial continues.