Ivan Savvidi

Savvidis is President of the Federation of Greek Communities of Russia, and was a key figure in pushing for the newly created region by the World Council of Hellenes Abroad in the Black Sea countries.

In 2022, during the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Savvidis ordered his associates to prepare around 487 rooms available at the Porto Carras resort in Chalkidiki within northern Greece in order to host refugees of the country during this time.

He is married to Kyriaki Savvidi and has two sons, George (Giorgi) and Nick (Nikolai).

Savvidis was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Rostov Oblast in 1998 and 2003. In 2003, Savvidis was elected as a Deputy in the State Duma; he subsequently served as the Deputy Chairman of the Budget Committee and Taxes. In 2007, Savvidis was re-elected as a Deputy in the State Duma as a member of the party United Russia led by chairman Vladimir Putin, serving until 2011. He served as a member of the Committee International Affairs, as coordinator of Interparliamentary Relations with the Hellenic Parliament and as Deputy Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Russia-Belarusian Union.

He has previously made positive comments about the Greek political party Syriza and has likened Alexis Tsipras to Vladimir Putin.

Gun demonstration

Ivan Savvidis was the focus of global attention on the evening of March 11, 2018, when he entered the stadium during the PAOK - AEK Athens championship match, which was a pivotal moment in the 2017–2018 season. At the time, the match was tied at 0-0, and at the 90-minute mark, PAOK's Fernando Varela scored the decisive goal with a header. The referee initially allowed the goal to PAOK, but a few minutes later, at the suggestion of the linesman and following protests from the AEK players, he disallowed the goal for offside. The overturning of the goal sparked a huge uproar both in the stands and inside the stadium, with players from both teams storming the pitch. Among them was Ivan Savvidis, who, accompanied by his bodyguards, ordered the PAOK players to leave the stadium. Ivan Savvidis appeared with a revolver strapped to his hip. The referee and the AEK players headed to the locker room when they saw Savvidis with the handgun in his belt and the game was stopped.

The pistol was photographed by the mobile phones of AEK's officials and was soon released on the internet. Although the pistol did not come out of its holster, the spectacle of the gun-toting businessman storming the stadium was the subject of negative commentary worldwide.

Savvidis was initially sentenced to 25 months' imprisonment, suspended for three years, after being found guilty of illegal entry into the stadium and possession of weapons. Apart from the criminal aspect, the sports justice system had punished the PAOK FC president with a three-year stadium ban and a fine of 100,000 euros.

The sentence handed down by the appeal court was reduced to eight months, with a three-year suspension. The businessman was found guilty only for the accusation of "possession, with intent, of an object that may cause bodily harm during a sporting event".