Roman Abramovich

It’s a new endeavour for me. I’ve never run a territory. I’ve never talked publicly to people. I’ve got to try it just to see whether I like it.

It was impossible to operate in the aluminium business without krysha – very real physical protection.

I’ve never tried to impose pressure on the authority of the government through my business achievements. I cannot tell you what the others were doing.

But charity is a very complicated thing. It’s important to find an area where you can really help and you can feel the results. Charity is not like feeding pigeons in the square. It is a process that requires professional management.

I live on a plane. I like to visit London. If I had to think where I could live if not Moscow, London would be my first choice, and second would be New York. In Moscow I feel most comfortable. I’m used to four different seasons; it’s difficult for people in London to understand. People brought up in Russia like my kids want to play in the snow.

I have no Napoleonic dream. I’m just hard working and pragmatic.

I actually don’t read most of the coverage about Facebook. I try to learn from getting input from people who use our services directly more than from pundits.

Arianna Huffington is unattractive both inside and out. I fully understand why her former husband left her for a man – he made a good decision.

I don’t care what is written about me so long as it isn’t true.

Contrary to what a lot of people think, I don’t enjoy doing press. I’ve been asked the same questions a million times now, and I don’t particularly like talking about my personal life.

If you don’t read the newspaper, you’re uninformed. If you read the newspaper, you’re mis-informed.

I notice in some of the newspapers that they have taken a bit of an interest in me. According to one headline Jeremy Corbyn welcomed the prospect of an asteroid wiping out humanity. Asteroids are pretty controversial and it is not the kind of thing I would want to rule out… without a full debate at conference and a review so can we have the debate later in the week.

Matt Drudge is a great gentleman, who really – he’s got an ability to capture stories that people want to see

With the press there is no ‘off the record’.

You can’t interview my brother!… We can call this thing off – right now!

When I hear about negative and false attacks, I really don’t invest any energy in them, because I know who I am.

What I try to keep in mind is that there are going to be a lot of articles that are going to be misrepresentative of what I’m about as a person and as a writer.

The most important service rendered by the press and the magazines is that of educating people to approach printed matter with distrust.

Television enables you to be entertained in your home by people you wouldn’t have in your home.

Television is the first truly democratic culture – the first culture available to everybody and entirely governed by what the people want. The most terrifying thing is what people do want.

My Twitter has become so powerful that I can actually make my enemies tell the truth.