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Abramovich and    European football

Roman Abramovich

Roman Arkadievich Abramovich (Russian: Рома́н Арка́дьевич Абрамо́вич) (born 24 October 1966 in Saratov, Russia) is a Russian oil billionaire and the main owner of private investment company Millhouse Capital, referred to as one of the Russian oligarchs. According to 2006 Forbes Magazine, he has a net worth of $18.2 billion(according to Russian Finance magazine of January 2007 his fortune is $21.0 billion).

Abramovich is most famous outside Russia as the owner of Chelsea, an English Premiership football club, and for his wider involvement in European football. Despite his high profile around the world, Abramovich makes virtually no public statements about his activities.

In Russian, his surname is pronounced with the stress on the third syllable, but most English speakers stress it on the second syllable.

Roman grew up as an orphan. His mother, Irina Abramovich, died from bacteremia as a result of a back-alley abortion when Roman was one year old. His father Arkady Abramovich was killed in an incident on a construction site when Roman was three years old. Abramovich grew up in his uncle's family in Ukhta and with his grandmother in Moscow.

Abramovich attended the Industrial Institute in the city of Ukhta before being drafted into the Soviet Army. After military service, he studied briefly at the Moscow State Auto Transport Institute before dropping out to go into business. He later earned a correspondence degree from the Moscow State Law Academy.