Russia wants to seize the assets of the new FIDE president, Timur Turlov
The Russian Prosecutor General's Office has filed a lawsuit with the Tverskoy District Court of Moscow seeking the confiscation of the assets of businessman Timur Turlov, who was elected president of the International Chess Federation (FIDE) on September 26. This was reported by Kommersant, citing its own sources.
Also named as defendants in the case are Arkady Shchukin, who manages Turlov’s Russian assets, as well as the companies “V-Empirical Holding Corp.”, “Freedom Holding Corp.” and “Freedom Finance Europe Ltd.”
According to the publication’s sources, the grounds for a potential seizure of assets could be the designation of Turlov and the other defendants as extremists due to their financial aid to Ukraine.
As reported by Kazakhstani and Ukrainian media, after the start of the full-scale war, Turlov donated 1 billion tenge—more than $2 million—to the Ukrainian Embassy in Kazakhstan for the purchase of humanitarian aid. He also transferred another 371.5 million tenge, or over $720,000, to a Kazakhstani charitable foundation that provided support to Ukraine during the humanitarian crisis.
In addition, Turlov’s company, Freedom Holding, transferred 2 million euros to purchase ambulances for Ukraine. Some of the donations were channeled through the UNITED24 platform, created at the initiative of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Turlov was born and raised in Moscow, where he founded a brokerage and investment business. After Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, he sold his Russian assets, renounced his Russian citizenship, and obtained a Kazakhstani passport.
According to the publication, in the spring of 2026, Freedom Holding’s assets were valued at $13 billion, and the company’s profit exceeded $153 million. Forbes estimated Turlov’s personal fortune at $7.4 billion.
On September 26, the 38-year-old businessman was elected president of FIDE. He succeeded former Russian Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich and became the second-youngest head of the federation.
For several years, Freedom Holding had been one of FIDE’s main commercial partners and sponsors. After his election, Turlov announced his intention to increase investment in the federation to $7 million to strengthen its financial stability and lay the groundwork for the further development of chess worldwide.
As a reminder, the Ukrainian Chess Federation accused Podolyak and Turlov of illegal activities.
Kazakh businessman Timur Turlov has taken the helm of FIDE.
It should be noted that the Russian Chess Federation can no longer operate in Crimea and the Donbas.
