Filenews 15 May 2025 - by Fanis Makridis
Today, in Parliament, an attempt will be made to solve the riddle with the €14 million. that the company Blue Ocean, which is allegedly in the interests of the tycoon and former owner of Chelsea, Roman Abramovic, was called to pay to the Republic of Cyprus.
At the meeting of the Parliamentary Audit Committee, the involved bodies of the State will be asked to shed light on the issue and answer whether this money was collected or, if they did not do so, to explain why.
In addition to the Commissioner of Taxation, Sotiris Makridis, the Auditor General, the Director General of the Ministry of Finance, the Commissioner of Companies, the President of the Cyprus Bar Association, Michalis Vorkas, as well as representatives of the Legal Service and the Unit for the Fight against Cover-Up Offences were invited to participate in the meeting (09:00).
The issue was raised by the independent MP, Alexandra Attalidou, who for months has been trying to get answers to specific questions. In fact, following a relevant report by the Cypriot investigative journalism network CIReN, he submitted a parliamentary question (30/1/25) to the Minister of Finance, Makis Keravnos, which remains unanswered.
The case
Through the question, the MP also attributes the dimensions of the case. Ms. Attalidou, cites the journalistic investigation published on 28/1/2025 in CIReN entitled "Billionaire Roman Abramovich's company set up a virtual charter system for luxury yachts in an apparent attempt to tax millions of euros".
He then states that "in 2010 the tax authorities of Cyprus began investigating the company "Blue Ocean" (note. connected to the alleged ring), which was based in our country", adding that "in March 2012 they imposed a fine of €14 million to the company for unpaid taxes from 2005 to 2010".
Subsequently, and after Ms. Attalidou first cites detailed data on Blue Ocean's actions in order to avoid the payment of the fine through legal remedies within the Republic, she refers to the relevant decision of the Supreme Court in March 2024, with which the case was finalized. Then, with the relevant verdict, a relevant request of the company was rejected. Blue Ocean was finally dissolved in July 2024, according to what the MP notes.
With her question, Mrs. Attalidou called on the Minister to inform the Parliament whether the company in question has paid its debts and, if not, "what actions the competent authority took before the dissolution of the company, in order to ensure the repayment (...)".
Hot questions
In addition to the obvious questions that officials are called upon to answer, there are other issues. It has been argued that the payment of a fine of €14 million to Blue Ocean was immediately enforceable, regardless of whether it challenged the decision in court. This is something that needs to be clarified. In addition, it is expected to be clarified today whether the deletion of the company from the registers of the Registrar of Companies was done with the consent of the Registrar of Taxation.
Prehistory
This is not the first time that an issue has been raised in Cyprus with Abramovich's assets. In a report by "F" (9/6/22) we had brought to light an FBI investigation that concluded that the tycoon had hidden his ultra-luxury aircraft worth 410 million dollars, in the international trust based in Cyprus "The Europa Settlement Trust".
Update - meeting suspended as legal official unprepared
