Timur Turlov elected FIDE president amid Ukrainian sanctions and Podolyak dispute

Timur Turlov has been elected president of the International Chess Federation (FIDE). The vote took place at the organisation’s General Assembly in Samarkand, Uzbekistan.

The Kazakh businessman won the second round with 110 votes, defeating German businessman Vadim Rosenstein, who was born in Ukraine, with 85. Indian grandmaster Viswanathan Anand, who ran alongside Turlov, was elected FIDE deputy president.

The controversy surrounding the new leadership centres on Ukrainian sanctions and the involvement of Mikhail Podolyak, a freelance adviser to Ukraine’s Presidential Office, in Turlov’s team.

Ukraine’s sanctions against Turlov

Turlov was born in Moscow, renounced Russian citizenship after the full-scale war began and became a citizen of Kazakhstan. Ukraine’s Chess Federation said he has been under Ukrainian sanctions since October 2022, following a National Security and Defence Council decision enacted by a presidential decree.

Before the sanctions, Freedom Finance Ukraine, linked to Turlov’s Freedom Holding Corp, was one of the largest participants in Ukraine’s securities market. After the sanctions, the Ukrainian Exchange, one of Ukraine’s three stock exchanges, lost its licence; Turlov’s company had been its largest shareholder.

Turlov has led Kazakhstan’s Chess Federation since January 2023. Reuters reported that Freedom Holding Corp had been a FIDE commercial partner and sponsor for several years, raising concerns about a possible conflict of interest.

Podolyak’s proposed FIDE role

On 21 September, Turlov said that, if elected, he would offer Mikhail Podolyak the position of FIDE vice-president. Turlov said Ukraine should have its own voice in decisions made by the international federation.

Podolyak accepted the offer and said he supported Turlov’s reform agenda. Ukraine’s Chess Federation said Podolyak had no connection with the country’s chess community and no mandate to represent it, and called for him to be barred from FIDE leadership posts.

Sources in the Presidential Office told the BBC that Podolyak remains a freelance adviser but described the chess situation as strange. Podolyak said he would comment later.

FIDE leadership transition

Turlov had previously intended to run for FIDE deputy president alongside Arkady Dvorkovich. Dvorkovich, a former Russian deputy prime minister, had led FIDE since 2018 but announced that he was leaving the organisation’s leadership after the European Union imposed sanctions on him.

Turlov said Russia’s participation in international competitions should be addressed “in full compliance with international law”. Since Russia’s invasion in 2022, Russian chess players have been barred from competing internationally under the Russian flag.