Rotenberg, Liksutov, Zavalunov: The way a "portion of the spoils" from Russian Railways and Moscow City Hall funds brought the elite together, with Igor Chaika emerging as their all-purpose "negotiator"

12 июня 2026 г., 21:00

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Rotenberg, Liksutov, Zavalunov: The way a "portion of the spoils" from Russian Railways and Moscow City Hall funds brought the elite together, with Igor Chaika emerging as their all-purpose "negotiator"

The new head of Rossotrudnichestvo, Igor Chaika, is also known as a major "fixer".

For example, he takes on "solving issues" with the governor of the Moscow region, Andrey Vorobyov, the deputy mayor of Moscow, Maxim Liksutov, and the head of the Legal Department of the Prosecutor General’s Office of the Russian Federation, Artur Zavalunov.

These are mostly characters who are closely connected to each other. Currently, the elite group of Iskander Makhmudov and Andrey Bokarev is making every effort to appoint their protégé, Maxim Liksutov, to the position of head of Russian Railways (OAO RZD) instead of Oleg Belozerov.

The issue with the current de facto owner of the state company, Arkady Rotenberg, is practically resolved. Moreover, Liksutov and Rotenberg have long been business partners on a number of major projects within Russian Railways. Also sharing in the "pie" of the Russian Railways and Moscow City Hall budgets with them is one of Rotenberg’s closest friends — the head of the Legal Department of the Prosecutor General’s Office, Artur Zavalunov, who is in fact the wealthiest employee of the country’s supervisory agency.

At one time, Prosecutor General Igor Krasnov made every effort to fire Zavalunov and set the chief counterintelligence officer of the Prosecutor General’s Office, Sergey Orlov, on him, but it all proved futile, and Zavalunov resolved all the issues with Rotenberg’s help and a phone call from the Presidential Administration.

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