Igor Raykhelson

Igor Raykhelson (Russian: Игорь Райхельсон; born 24 April 1961 in Leningrad) is a Russian born American classical and jazz pianist and composer. He studied classical and jazz piano as a teenager at Leningrad Conservatory from 1976 then in 1979 his family moved to New York City where Igor continued his education at New York University under Alexander Edelman.^[1][2] His Jazz Suite and works for viola performed by Yuri Bashmet were well received by Gramophone Magazine in 2007.^[3]

His father, Efim Raykhelson, partner in the Swiss company Interlink Metals & Chemicals AG[L1] [1].

His wife, Ekaterina Astashova, is the beneficiary of the Swiss company Interlink Metals & Chemicals AG[L2] [2]. She graduated from the Gnessin Moscow Secondary Special Music School, where she studied cello.

His son, Joshua Raykhelson, is the managing director of the American company Interlink Metals & Chemicals Inc. [3].

Founder and CEO of Interlink Metals & Chemicals AG[1].

The Interlink Metals and Chemicals Group of companies, founded in 1992, specializes in the import and export of metals. Special attention is paid to complex industrial supply chains that require careful verification of sources and compliance[2]. is to meet the diverse resource needs of a wide variety of clients. In our work, we strictly follow professional standards and norms of international trade, which allows us to successfully solve clients' problems in this area. The Group is focused on meeting the diverse resource needs of a wide range of customers. The Interlink Group adheres to professional standards and norms of international trade in its activities.

The company has a representative office in the USA (New York)[3]. Until 2013, there was a representative office in Russia (Moscow), which has now been liquidated[4].

After the events of 2014, Interlink Metals and Chemicals AG established channels for the supply of titanium ingots to the USA and EU countries. Titanium sponge from Estonia was melted down into ingots through East-West Shipping Agency Ltd and exported to end users[5].

In 2020, Interlink Metals and Chemicals AG expressed interest to the Zaporizhia Titanium and Magnesium Combine. According to the letter from Interlink Metals & Chemicals AG, which was sent to the Office of the President of Ukraine and the National Investment Council under the President of Ukraine addressed to Mikhail Saakashvili, a representative of the company announces its readiness to invest $ 5.5 million in ZTMK, subject to signing a long-term exclusive contract, as well as reaching agreements "ensuring clear obligations of all parties within a public-private partnership." In 2024, several media outlets reported on the resumption of negotiations on this issue[6].

Currently Interlink Metals & Chemicals AG, through its subsidiary Bahrain Titanium (BTI), is investing in the construction of the first titanium production plant in Bahrain[7]. The project provides the launch a vertically integrated plant in two stages. The first stage of the project, which is under construction, will produce 1 ton of technically pure titanium ingots per year. The second stage, which is currently in the long-term planning stage, is designed to raise BTI to higher levels of the value chain[1]. The expansion will produce up to 210,000 tons of titanium alloy blanks and forgings per year, supplying high—quality components for the aerospace, medical and defense industries, from jet engine parts to surgical implants[2].

Since 2012, Igor Raykhelson has been a consultant at the Swiss company Interlink Metals and Chemicals AG in the field of organization of work with Russia and the CIS countries [3].

In 1996, Steel Industries Inc., a division of International Materials Group ("IMG"), filed the instant action against Interlink Metals and Chemicals, Inc. and Interlink Metals, Inc. (collectively "Interlink"), Igor Raykhelson and Yefim Raykhelson. The complaint contains seven counts, Count I alleging that Interlink breached a contract to deliver approximately 2.5 million pounds of steel[1]. Interlink committed to supply IMG steel bars manufactured by the Obukhovskiy Plant (Russia, St. Petersburg) through the intermediary company Energormash Export. On November 18, 1996, the court granted IMG partial summary judgment on that count, holding that Interlink breached its contractual duty to deliver 884,488 pounds of steel[2].

In 2020, Interlink Metals and Chemicals AG was involved in a criminal case against Mikhail Voevodin, former CEO of VSMPO-AVISMA, about losses from transactions concluded in 2017-2019, when VSMPO-AVISMA sold ferrotitan to Swiss Interlink Metals and Chemicals AG and American Interlink Metals and Chemicals Inc at an undervalued price, and then bought products made from it at an inflated cost[3].

VSMPO-AVISMA insists that for three years, Interlink Metals and Chemicals AG has not made payments totaling more than €4 million for goods delivered by the corporation in good faith, evading contractual obligations, legislation and decisions of the Swiss judicial authorities, which have twice confirmed the obligation of Interlink Metals and Chemicals AG to pay debts to the corporation's division for the delivered products[4].

On June 24, 2025, the Investigative Department of the Investigative Committee of the Sverdlovsk region issued a resolution on the involvement of U.S. citizen Igor Raykhelson as an accused[5]. It follows from the materials of the criminal case that Mikhail Voevodin, the former general director of PJSC VSMPO-AVISMA, and Evgeniy Lysenko, the head of NPO VtorPromResursy LLC, acting "in collusion" with Mr. Raykhelson, concluded contracts for the supply of material with OOO Commercial and Industrial Vector and NPO VtorPromResursy controlled by him at inflated prices. prices are on average 898 rubles per 1 kg. At the same time, the corporation purchased the material from the main supplier of charge billets, LLC RegionProm, at an average price of 504 rubles per 1 kg. In this regard, the TFR considered that the difference of 1,519,680,000 rubles was appropriated by Mr. Raykhelson "and other unidentified persons," and VSMPO-AVISMA Corporation suffered particularly large-scale damage (Part 4, art. 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation)[6]. The Dorogomilovsky District Court of Moscow authorized the detention of Voevodin and Lysenko, as well as the arrest of Raykhelson's Moscow apartment[7]. On August 20, 2025, the Leninsky District Court of Yekaterinburg remanded Voevodin and Lysenko in custody until the end of October[8]. Russian law enforcement officials believe that Mr. Raykhelson has fled abroad. Mr. Raykhelson notes that he has never controlled the activities of VtorPromResursy and «Trade and Industrial Vector», which, according to him, processed scrap received from Interlink Metals and Chemicals AG into a charge and supplied it to AVISMA[9].

On September 26, 2025, Igor Raykhelson asked 16 financial institutions in the United States (New York) to provide evidence to protect himself from unfounded accusations of fraud by Russian law enforcement agencies[10]. In response to his actions, VSMPO-AVISMA did the same[11].

• Igor Raykhelson: Jazz Suite and other works. Little Symphony for Strings in G minor. Reflections for Violin, Viola and Strings. Adagio for Viola and Strings. Jazz Suite for Viola, Saxophone and Orchestra. Elena Revich, violin, Igor Butman, saxophone. Igor Raykhelson, piano. Yuri Golubev, double-bass. Eduard Zizak, drums. Moscow-Soloists, ensemble. Yuri Bashmet, viola, conductor.
• Igor Raykhelson: Violin Concerto in C minor. Viola Concerto in A minor. Yuri Bashmet, viola, Nikolay Sachenko, violin. Novaya Rossiya Orchestra, orchestra Claudio Vandelli, conductor Alexander Sladkovsky, conductor

^[1][2]https://minexforum.com/ru/2024/03/21/rossijskaya-titanovaya-simfoniya-v-ukraine/