A German businessman, supporter and financier of Călin Georgescu, gave an interview to an Austrian publication. During the dialogue, he recognizes the relationship with the former presidential candidate, but offers contradictory explanations regarding his links with the Russian Federation.
Calin Georgescu. Photo: Inquam Photos / Octav Ganea
Roland Schatz, the founder of the Swiss Media Tenor Media Tenor analysis company, told Der Standard that he knew Georgescu ten years ago, in Geneva, when he was working as “the main councilor of the UN General Manager”. In 2016, Georgescu was appointed director of the Private Foundation United Nations Global Sustainable Index Institute (Hungarians), founded by Schatz.
Although he states that he did not support Georgescu in the 2024 presidential campaign, Roland Schatz acknowledges that he tried to “correct some slanders” in December, and Der Standard notes that he has held a “favorable presentation” about Călin Georgescu including in the German publication Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (Faz), part of the Tenor Media group.
In an article published in January 2025, Schatz presented to Georgescu as a “victim” of the system, which would have been punished for his anti-corruption position. At the same time, in the interview, Schatz said that he does not keep in touch with Georgescu and expresses “hope that he and his family will recover as soon as possible.”
Denial of ties with Russia, contradicted by official documents
The most controversial part of the interview is Roland Schatz’s explanations in relation to business relationships between his companies and the Russian Federation. According to Der Standard, the company Media Tenor Austria is owned by Innovatio Verlags AG, a company founded by Schatz in 1985, registered in Switzerland. The same company also appears in the Russian Trade Register as a majority shareholder of a media tenor company established in St. Petersburg.
Although he states that Innovatio Verlags AG “has never been active in Russia”, the data in the trade register shows the opposite. Moreover, the Russian company was run by Elena Shmeva, a close relative of President Vladimir Putin, former campaign director and currently co-chair of the pro-Kremlin party of all Russians, supporter of the invasion in Ukraine.
Schatz claims that he does not know the name of Shmeva and did not authorize the use of the name Media Tenor in Russia, although his company had officially announced, in 2005, the launch of office in Switzerland, Russia and Namibia.
Georgescu’s profile, according to the Austrian press
The article Der Standard also offers a critical portrait of Călin Georgescu, described as a “post-factual politician”, which supports conspiracy theories such as the idea that people have not arrived on the Moon, that juices contain nanopes or that climate change are a global farce. These are just a few examples.
Austrian journalists notes that, since his move to Austria, Georgescu “began to flirt with the Kremlin”, becoming a promoter of Russian propaganda narratives. It is not clear how he managed to purchase a house of 530,000 euros near Vienna, in the context in which he had previously worked as an expert in several ministries in Romania.
Der Standard recalls that Georgescu was intensely promoted by Russian media channels Sputnik and Russia Today, being considered a “friend of Kremlin politics.”
