The AfD faction in the Bundestag is sticking with its foreign policy spokesman despite his supposedly non-political part-time job in Moscow. Now it turns out: Russian state money flowed into the cellist’s concerts.
AfD MP Matthias Moosdorf’s concert appearances in Russia were made possible by state funds from the Kremlin. This comes from an official database that t-online evaluated. Accordingly, the “Bridge of the Arts” foundation of the German cultural manager Hans-Joachim Frey received more than 600,000 euros for the two Tchaikovsky festivals, as part of which Moosdorf gave cello concerts in Russia.
The money was provided by Putin’s “Presidential Fund for Cultural Initiatives”, which independent Russian media describe as a “feeding trough for propagandists”. The fund was explicitly listed as a sponsor in the text accompanying Moosdorf’s concerts.
Moosdorf, who is also the foreign policy spokesman for the Bundestag faction, did not respond to a current inquiry from t-online about the amount of fees he received for the two appearances in St. Petersburg. In response to an earlier one, he said that the fee for the concert in the Hermitage in St. Petersburg in September 2024 was “internationally customary for this type of setting.”
It remained unclear who would cover the flight and hotel costs for the trips in 2023 and 2024 and what role Frey’s foundation will play in Moosdorf’s recently accepted honorary professorship at the Moscow Gnessin University of Music, which is financed by the Russian Ministry of Culture.
In previous statements, Moosdorf has repeatedly emphasized that his musical work in Russia is apolitical. “Especially in these times, it is important not to suffocate or even exploit culture and art,” he wrote on Facebook after his 2023 concert. Frey also repeatedly emphasizes that his events serve cultural exchange. However, in view of the new findings, there may be doubts about this.
Although it is also the rule in Germany that top cultural events receive state funding, in Russia such funding is far more political.
Millions for propaganda shows
The chairman of the board of trustees of the fund that provided grants for the concerts is Sergei Kiriyenko. He organizes the Kremlin’s propaganda work for ruler Vladimir Putin. Under his chairmanship, the fund has distributed at least 15.2 million euros since the outbreak of war to projects aimed at organizing support for the invasion of Ukraine, the Moscow Times reported. He has a reputation for primarily engaging in propaganda.
Hans-Joachim Frey’s foundation, which organized Moosdorf’s concerts, also fits into this picture: the projects, as the foundation’s homepage describes, are intended, among other things, to strengthen Russia’s international relations and to contribute to economic and political agreements. In order to achieve these goals, the “Bridge of the Arts” is apparently designed to be close to the state.
The board of trustees is chaired by Putin’s childhood friend Boris Rotenberg, who, together with his brother Arkady, became a billionaire through their collaboration with Gazprom. He likes to sit with Frey in the front row at gala events – for example at the so-called “Petrovsky Ball” at the “Bridge of the Arts”, which also opened the month-long Tchaikovsky Festival in St. Petersburg this year. The alleged contribution to international understanding was actually a propaganda show.
At the ball at the end of August, Russian soldiers in combat uniform were welcomed onto the stage. Well-known Putinists gave political speeches. The general director of the fund asked the guests to applaud three times. “The first ovation is for our defenders, our heroes, who are now standing in this hall and on the contact line,” the scene portal “Backstage Classical” quoted him as saying, “the second ovation is for the people who support our defenders. And the third Ovation goes to St. Petersburg, the city of great culture, and all those who enliven it.”