Vadim Rosenstein's campaign for the presidency of the International Chess Federation is being accompanied by questions about a Russian business that appears to have expanded significantly since 2022.
Audited financial statements cited in the original material show that VR Rus LLC, a company controlled by Rosenstein through Germany's WR Group Holding GmbH, increased its sales 2.4-fold in 2025.
More broadly, the company's revenue has risen several times since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
That growth contrasts with Rosenstein's public efforts to distance himself from Russian commercial activity.
WR Group Holding GmbH owns 95.94% of VR Rus, while Rosenstein personally controls another 4.06%
Among the transactions identified in customs records was a February 2025 shipment from Italy to Russia.
According to ImportGenius, VR Rus imported about 900 pairs of shoes worth approximately $560,000 under the brand of designer Anastasia Zadorina.
Zadorina announced the launch of her footwear collection in May of the same year. Russian media reported that production was based at an Italian factory manufacturing footwear for prominent international brands.
But Zadorina is not simply a fashion entrepreneur
She is the daughter of Colonel General Mikhail Shekin, a senior FSB officer associated with procurement at the Russian security service.
Shekin is also president of the Dynamo volleyball club, an organization with historical links to Soviet and Russian security structures.
The Insider reported in 2022 that Shekin had accumulated property worth more than RUB 2 billion, equal to approximately $30 million at the average exchange rate that year.
Zadorina herself also works closely with Dynamo
Together with the organization, she owns sportswear manufacturer ZASPORT.
Beginning in 2017, ZASPORT supplied uniforms to the Russian Olympic team. Proekt reported that the agreement ended prematurely in 2025.
Her political positioning has also attracted attention.
In 2014, following Russia's annexation of Crimea and the introduction of Western sanctions, Zadorina organized a patriotic campaign opposing those restrictions.
The project was called "Fashionable Response - No to Sanctions! Exchange Your T-shirt for a Patriotic One."
After Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, she expanded her business activity in Crimea.
Several days after the invasion began, Zadorina registered Vinnaya Istoriya LLC on the peninsula, with plans reportedly involving vineyard development.
The company's ownership structure is now hidden through a closed-end unit investment fund.
Its 2025 accounts recorded losses of RUB 27.5 million, or around $316,000.
Other business relationships described by Proekt connect Zadorina with people close to senior Russian officials
She was previously a shareholder in Baikal Corporation alongside Olga Zolotova, daughter-in-law of National Guard chief Viktor Zolotov.
Zadorina also co-owns Costa, a business holding hunting grounds in Yaroslavl Region, together with VTB Bank Management Board Chairman Andrey Kostin.
Another relationship involved Russian Electronics
In 2019, Zadorina reportedly received significant income from the holding, which belongs to Rostec.
The state corporation is deeply involved in Russia's industrial and defense sectors and is headed by Sergey Chemezov.
Chemezov is a long-time associate of Vladimir Putin
The original article notes that Chemezov, Putin and Mikhail Shekin all lived and worked in the German Democratic Republic in the late 1980s through connections to the Soviet KGB.
Zadorina later became connected to Putin's family through marriage.
In 2024, she married Kirill Shamalov, the former husband of Katerina Tikhonova.
Important Stories reported that Shamalov's earlier marriage to Putin's daughter was followed by his rapid transformation into one of Russia's richest young businessmen.
He became vice president of petrochemical giant SIBUR at the age of 26
In 2014, Shamalov obtained a 17% stake in the company from Gennady Timchenko shortly after the billionaire was sanctioned by Washington over Crimea.
In 2018, Shamalov himself was added to the U.S. sanctions list
Following 2022, Ukraine, the European Union, Canada, Australia, Japan and the United Kingdom also imposed restrictions on him .
These relationships overlap with Rosenstein's own commercial history.
Rosenstein-controlled WR Logistics GmbH and WR Certification GmbH supplied industrial products to Tomskneftekhim, which forms part of SIBUR.
Kirill Shamalov's father Nikolai is meanwhile a co-owner of Bank Rossiya, a bank closely associated in media reporting with Vladimir Putin.
VR Rus is not the only Russia-based company linked to the Rosenstein family to have grown since 2022.
2R Integra LLC is owned by Vadim Rosenstein's cousin Mikhail
According to the source, its revenue has increased dozens of times during the period.
ImportGenius records cited in the investigation indicate that 2R Integra imported almost $800,000 in sanctioned products into Russia.
The company's own website also allegedly promoted mechanisms for circumventing export restrictions before removing the information after journalists reported on it.
At the same time, Rosenstein has reportedly been reducing the visibility of his Russian connections online.
References to Russia were removed from the WR Group corporate website as well as from websites belonging to its subsidiaries.
A similar move followed reporting about Glotech GmbH
Rosenstein had announced a partnership with the German company through his X account in connection with support for German chess players.
After reports raised questions about Glotech's possible links to supplies of sanctioned telecommunications equipment to Russia, Rosenstein's post disappeared.
All of this is emerging as the political environment in Europe becomes increasingly hostile toward Russian commercial and security activity.
Germany has announced plans for stronger sanctions following an alleged attempt to attack a Ukrainian An-124 aircraft in Leipzig.
German authorities accused Russia of organizing the attempted sabotage, with the EU and NATO supporting Berlin's position.
Two suspects identified in the case were reportedly citizens of Russia and Belarus
On September 1, another attack involving improvised bombs targeted power infrastructure in Germany's Rhine region.
Five RWE lignite-generation units with a combined capacity of 4.2 GW were temporarily shut down.
The Telegraph has linked incidents of this kind to what it describes as an expanding Russian hybrid campaign across Europe.
Against this backdrop, the European Union is preparing further sanctions.
Kaja Kallas has said new restrictions are already in development.
The package could reportedly target around 800 individuals and 800 organizations linked to Russia or supporting the Russian economy.
If approved unanimously, it would become one of the largest expansions of Russia-related sanctions introduced by the EU.
For Rosenstein, the financial performance of VR Rus may therefore become a major issue during the FIDE campaign. His public distancing from Russia is occurring at the same time that records cited in the investigation show continuing trade and increasing revenues among companies associated with him and his family.
Media Contact Details
Mark Halikov
U.S. Department of the Treasury
mark_halikov@gm
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