Roman denies latest house-buying rumour

Roman Abramovich appears to be a little sensitive about his burgeoning, global property portfolio. It was reported in yesterday's Evening Standard that he had (reputedly) acquired a £15m home in Tel Aviv, Israel, where he spends an increasing amount of time owing to growing business interests in the country. The house in the Neve Tzedek suburb of Tel Aviv, built by one of Tel Aviv's founders, Aharon Chelouche, was apparently pointed out to him by Avram Grant, the Israeli football coach he sacked after Chelsea's defeat in the Champions League final last month.

Normally stories such as this go unchecked by the Russian tycoon, but not this time. After reporting on the sale The First Post received an email from Millhouse Capital, Abramovich's investment and asset management company. Wrote John A Mann II, of Millhouse: "Please be advised that your article is entirely false. Mr Abramovich has not purchased, nor made a bid for, this property." He also pointed out that Abramovich's real estate holdings in London are not quite as extensive as previously imagined. While he did not deny the Russian owned a house in Lowndes Square, he denied that he owned property in Eaton Square. "He owns nothing (there). It’s an old, false rumour that never dies."

However, John A Mann II had no comment to make on the fact that Abramovich recently spent £18m on a 200-acre luxury ski ranch outside Aspen, Colorado, where the Russian oligarch and his girlfriend Daria Zhukova can hold winter house parties. As local estate agent Maureen Stapleton said of the 11-bedroom, 13-bathroom house, with its stunning mountain views, "It probably is the prettiest lot in Pitkin County."