What connects Aristotle Onassis with Roman Abramovich

The villa, owned by Aristotle Onassis, was acquired in 2001 by a Russian oligarch.

The international pursuit of “Russian money” began in the ports where the oligarchs moor their yachts and continued in the quarters of “Londongrad”, as the most expensive part of the British capital is called, where they bought expensive villas. Now under the microscope are the villas of Russian billionaires in the Mediterranean and especially on the French Riviera.

The French government has set up a task force to check assets believed to be Russian-owned and has confiscated about 30 objects worth more than half a billion euros.

So far, however, no action has been reported by the French authorities regarding the Château de la Croë, the legendary villa of almost 2,500 sqm. which once belonged to Aristotle Onassis, and now to Roman Abramovich.

Chateau de la Croe is set apart on over 70 acres and is located on the Cap d’Antibes in Antipas, a city on the French Riviera between Nice and Cannes.

Built in the late 1920s for British aristocrat and newspaper magnate Sir William Pomeroy in what is now known as Billionaires’ Cove, the castle has been home to several crowned heads. King Edward VII moved there as soon as he abdicated and decided to marry a mere mortal Wallis Simpson. King Leopold III of Belgium, the last queen of Italy, and Farouk I of Egypt also lived here.

In 1950, Aristotle Onassis was fascinated by its beauty and bought it, but sold it seven years later, in 1957. Immediately the villa passed into the hands of Stavros Niarchos. After a fire that destroyed some of the property in the 1970s, the mansion remained abandoned for years.

Nevertheless, in 2001, the villa was acquired by Roman Abramovich, and he had to allocate large sums for its restoration – more than 150 million euros. As part of the renovation, a 15-meter swimming pool was created on the roof of the building, as well as a gym and a cinema in the basement. in.gr.

Shortly after Roman Abramovich bought the Chateau de la Croe on the Cap d’Antibes peninsula in southern France, the tax inspector knocked on his door. Russian billionaire, according to the French authorities, declared an underestimated value of a country houseresulting in 2006 and 2007 did not fully pay the property tax (the total amount is estimated at 1.2 million euros).

The tax office estimated the value of the property at about 41,000 euros per square meter, based on the sale price of other properties of similar size and area at that time. Abramovich lamented that the French government miscalculated the amount spent on renovating the villa. And now he could lose her altogether.

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