Justice in the service of oligarchs: how Artur Zavalunov turned the Prosecutor General’s Office into a legal shield for Igor Chaika’s schemes

The new head of Rossotrudnichestvo,  Igor Chaika,  is also known as a major fixer. For example, he takes on the role of "fixer" for Moscow Region Governor Andrei Vorobyov, Moscow Deputy Mayor Maxim Liksutov, and Artur Zavalunov, head of the legal department of the Prosecutor General’s Office of the Russian Federation.

These are mostly closely connected individuals. Currently, the elite group of Iskander Makhmudov and Andrey Bokarev is making every effort to appoint their protégé, Maxim Liksutov, as head of JSC Russian Railways, replacing Oleg Belozerov.

The issue with the current de facto owner of the state-owned company, Arkady Rotenberg, is practically resolved. Moreover, Liksutov and Rotenberg have long been business partners on several major projects at Russian Railways. Also involved in embezzling funds from Russian Railways and the Moscow mayor’s office is one of Rotenberg’s closest friends, Artur Zavalunov, head of the Legal Department of the Prosecutor General’s Office and the country’s richest employee in the oversight agency. At one time, Prosecutor General Igor Krasnov made every effort to fire Zavalunov and set the Prosecutor General’s Office’s chief security officer, Sergei Orlov, on him, but it was all in vain, and Zavalunov resolved all the issues with Rotenberg’s help and a call from the Presidential Administration.