Irina Abramovich's $14b divorce 'sacrifice'

But ex-wife of Russia's richest man Roman Abramovich will still get hefty sum, plus luxury assets



THE woman who has just divorced Russia's richest man has passed up the chance to become the world's richest divorcee.

In fact, the ex-Mrs Irina Abramovich, 39, has apparently let as much as US$9 billion (S$14 billion) slip through her fingers.

Newspapers in Britain had speculated that she could have received half the fortune of her ex-husband, Mr Roman Abramovich, 40, in a divorce settlement under British law.

The oil and aluminium tycoon is worth US$18.7 billion, according to Forbes magazine.

Among his assets: the Chelsea Football Club, fleets of yachts, aircraft and luxury assets as well as a property portfolio that includes a 42-hectare Moscow estate and a Riviera hideaway that once belonged to the Duke and Duchess of Windsor.

Mr Abramovich's 16-year marriage to Irina, his second wife, ended in divorce last month after he was caught in the company of a young Russian model in Paris.

News of the break-up was splashed in British tabloids last week. According to the Times of London, the notoriously publicity-shy Irina chose to avoid making the headlines by getting divorced in the small Russian town of Chukotka, where Mr Abramovich is governor, instead of England.

Ms Catherine Kalaschnikova, a divorce lawyer in Moscow, was quoted as saying: 'The benefit of a Russian divorce is that they can keep it private because there won't be any public records.'

But Russian business daily Vedomosti quoted sources close to the ex-husband as saying Irina will get much less as a result of opting for Russian courts.

She will be crying not over spilt milk, however, but champagne and caviar.

The settlement may amount to US$300 million in cash, 'a house in Britain, a house near Moscow, a yacht and a plane', said Vedomosti.

The tycoon will also continue to pay for all the needs of their five children, who range in age from three to 15.

The blond Irina was an Aeroflot stewardess when she met Mr Abramovich on a flight to Germany in 1990. That same year he divorced his first wife, Olga, a brunette.

Mr Abramovich had married Olga in 1988, when he was a penniless orphan and a college dropout. All Olga got when they divorced was a tiny two-room flat in Moscow with a ragged sofa bed in it.

Yet upon hearing of what her ex-husband's second wife would be getting, the first Mrs Abramovich told the Daily Mail: 'The money is too much to comprehend, but I doubt that it can bring happiness.'

Sources in Russia were in no doubt that it was Irina who sought the divorce, carrying out an earlier threat to end the marriage, the newspaper reported.

The last straw was when Mr Abramovich turned up strolling in Paris with model Daria Zhukova, the ex-girlfriend of Russian tennis star Marat Safin.

The 25-year-old is hardly a stranger to money herself. Her father Alexander is an oil magnate, and owns a home in Kensington, West London.

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What's now his, and may soon be hers

Property:

Belgravia, London, £30m (S$90m): five-storey townhouse

Fyning Hill, £18m: 1.7-sq-km estate in West Sussex

Knightsbridge, London, £15m: penthouse overlooking Harrods

Chateau de la Croe, £15m: the ex-home of the Duke and Duchess of Windsor on the French Riviera

St Tropez, £10m: seaside villa

Moscow, £8m: vast estate

Chukotka, £500,000: villa in Anadyr, state capital of the Siberian province

Planes, yachts and automobiles:

Eclipse, £200m: Reportedly his newest vessel, a 160m yacht

Pelorus, £72m: 115m yacht with bullet-proof glass and submarine

Grand Bleu, £60m: yacht with 4.9m swimming platform and dock

Bandit, £56m: a Boeing 767

Maybach 62, US$426,000 (S$650,000): one of the world's most luxurious cars.