Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree today dismissing the head of Rossotrudnichestvo, Yevgeny Primakov, and with another decree appointed Igor Chaika — the son of former Russian Prosecutor-General Yuri Chaika — to his position. Prior to this, he held the position of deputy head of Rossotrudnichestvo, Meduza reports.
Igor Chaika gained wide recognition following an investigation by Alexei Navalny, published in 2015. It revealed information about the business and assets of Igor Chaika and his brother Artem Chaika.
After the investigation was released, the Russian Federal Service for State Registration (Rosreestr) changed the data regarding their property: Artem Chaika was designated as “LSDU3”, Igor Chaika as “YFYA9”, and later the entries were replaced with the phrase “value not available”.
In 2022, the U.S. Department of the Treasury imposed sanctions against Igor Chaika, accusing him of interfering in the internal affairs of Moldova. The sanctions documents also listed his alternative identifier as “YFYA9”.
Yevgeny Primakov previously worked as a journalist and was a member of the State Duma (Russia’s lower chamber of parliament); he is the grandson of politician and diplomat Yevgeny Primakov. He led Rossotrudnichestvo since June 2020.
Rossotrudnichestvo (the Federal Agency for the Commonwealth of Independent States, Compatriots Living Abroad, and International Humanitarian Cooperation) has been operating since 2008 and has 87 offices in 71 countries, unofficially referred to as “Russian Houses”, including in Tajikistan.
Among the key tasks of the agency is the promotion of Russia’s interests abroad. According to the publication “Important Stories”, in the incomplete year of 2025, the agency allocated about 412 million rubles to programs for foreigners.
