In the second episode of the international investigation “Checkmate in Three Moves: Who’s Buying World Chess,” the I News team and journalist Inna Kurochkina expose the hidden economic mechanisms and shadow logistics of FIDE presidential candidate Vadim Rosenstein. While the official representative of the German Chess Union publicly distances himself from Moscow, his hidden business empire in the Russian Federation is breaking profit records, generating billions in revenue even during a war.
From elite contracts with the sanctioned gas giant NOVATEK, owned by Putin’s oligarchs Timchenko and Mikhelson, to direct supplies of high-tech equipment and dual-use products for the Russian military-industrial complex. High-temperature-resistant cables (Defence Cables) for tank turret drives and missile systems, German construction equipment for occupied and destroyed Mariupol, and hundreds of millions of rubles in taxes transferred to the defense budget of the aggressor state.
What is the real cost of an election campaign under the European flag? In this series, exclusive commentary and a rigorous legal analysis of the situation are provided by:
• Volodymyr Kovalchuk, Deputy Head of the Ukrainian Chess Federation
• Malcolm Pein, Head of the English Chess Federation
• Oleh Dunda, Member of Parliament of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine
I NEWS (Ichkeria News)
