FIDE presidential candidate continues to conduct business in Russia worth billions of rubles

Vadim Rosenstein, a candidate for the presidency of the International Chess Federation, has found himself at the center of a scandal over business ties with Russia that, according to Russian registries, may contradict his public statements.

Rosenshtein previously stated that he had ceased doing business with Russia following the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022. However, as journalists have discovered, companies linked to him and his family continue to operate in the Russian market.

In particular, VR Rus LLC remains an active company in Russia. Its revenue grew from 113 million rubles in 2023 to 1.6 billion rubles in 2025. Over the past three years, the company has paid more than 400 million rubles in taxes to the Russian government.

An even larger business is run by “2R Integra,” a company linked to the Rosenshtein family. According to Russian registries, the company continues to operate, and its owner and CEO is Mikhail Rosenshtein.

In 2025 alone, “2R Integra’s” revenue amounted to approximately 2.1 billion rubles, while tax payments to the Russian Federation’s budget reached 551 million rubles.

Thus, companies linked to the family of the candidate for the top position in the World Chess Federation continue to generate significant revenue in Russia and pay millions of rubles into the budget of the aggressor country.

Against this backdrop, the question of whether Rosenstein’s public stance aligns with his actual business ties becomes particularly acute.

The FIDE presidential election is scheduled to take place on September 26 in Samarkand. In addition to Rosenstein, German entrepreneur Jan-Henrik Büttner and Timur Turlov, president of the Kazakhstan Chess Federation, will be vying for the position.

Source: Deutsche Welle.

Trump has spoken out against replacing Infantino as FIFA president.

As a reminder, the soccer associations of Sweden and Wales have decided to no longer support Gianni Infantino in the upcoming election for president of the International Federation of Association Football. England may join them in the near future.

UEFA is considering filing a lawsuit against FIFA over the now-canceled plan to sell a stake in the commercial rights to the World Cup and other tournaments to private investors.