MOSCOW, July 3 (RIA Novosti) - Roman Abramovich, the Russian billionaire owner of Chelsea FC, has quit as governor of a remote Far East region, the Kremlin press service said on Thursday.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has signed a decree accepting his resignation, the Kremlin said.
Abramovich's spokesman said the businessman would continue investing in the region's development after his resignation.
"The mission has been accomplished [by Abramovich], but this does not mean he has finished his work in the region," John Mann said adding the businessman runs two charitable funds in Chukotka.
Chukotka governor since 2000, Abramovich, 42, has been credited for lavishly investing in the sparsely populated Chukotka autonomy, a gold and coal-producing region about two times the size of Germany.
Media reported earlier that Abramovich, who mainly resides in London, had been keen to resign for some time, including in 2006 when he pledged to continue investment programs in the region, but then president Vladimir Putin insisted he stay.
Putin earlier said he highly valued Abramovich's work to improve living standards in the region.
The businessman is ranked the country's second richest man by Forbes magazine with an estimated $23 billion. Abramovich's business interests include steel plants and coal companies in Russia and abroad. In the West, he is best known as the owner of Chelsea soccer club.
In September 2005, Abramovich sold a 72.6% stake in the Sibneft oil company to state-controlled Gazprom for $13 billion.
Abramovich, reportedly the world's biggest spender on luxury yachts, docked his yacht near the cruiser Aurora during an international investment forum in Russia's second city St. Petersburg in June.
He was also reported to have paid troubled British singer Amy Winehouse, a recovering crack addict, around $2 million to perform at the opening of his girlfriend's art gallery in Moscow.
The president has appointed Roman Kopin, 34, former deputy governor overseeing industry and agriculture, as acting governor of Chukotka.
