“Motobrat” of Viktar Lukashenka Appointed Head of Rossotrudnichestvo

A new head of Rossotrudnichestvo — the Federal Agency for the Commonwealth of Independent States, Compatriots Living Abroad and International Humanitarian Cooperation — has been appointed in Russia. According to a decree by Vladimir Putin, the new head of the organisation is Igor Chaika. He replaces Yevgeny Primakov.

Igor Chaika is the son of former Russian Prosecutor General Yury Chaika and the owner of one of Russia’s largest regional waste management operators, Khartiya. In 2015, the Anti-Corruption Foundation published an investigation into the business activities of Yury Chaika’s sons.

In 2020, Igor Chaika and his brother Artyom took part in a motor rally together with the sons of Alyaksandr Lukashenka Viktar and Dzmitry. Artyom Chaika and Viktar Lukashenka are founders of the Iron Birds Chapter motorcycle club — a local branch of the international Harley-Davidson owners’ community.

One of the tasks of Rossotrudnichestvo is the promotion of the “Russian world”. The organisation opens “Russian Houses” in various countries. Rossotrudnichestvo is under sanctions from the European Union and other countries. This state body is regarded as “the main government agency projecting the Kremlin’s soft power and hybrid influence, including the promotion of the concept of the ‘Russian world’”.