The Russian Forbes magazine published the ranking of the 20 Russian billionaires – of which 5 have Israeli citizenship – Michael Friedman, Moshe Kantor, Michael Prokhorov, Roman Abramovich, German Khan.
Forbes Russia is soon to publish the names of all 110 Russian billionaires. It should be estimated that the list includes a number of billionaires who received Israeli citizenship but live in Russia, England, Switzerland and the USA and come to Israel at best for a few weeks a year. Israeli citizenship is important to them as a refuge for any trouble. They do indeed as Jews contribute a lot to the community, but as citizens we would be happy if they invested More donations in Israel.
Ashdod Net brings you their story and their contribution to Judaism and Israel.
Michael Friedman:
In the 9th place on the list of Russia’s richest people is Michael Friedman, whose value is estimated at 12.6 billion dollars (he is also ranked among the 60 richest people in the world).
Friedman was born in 1964 in Lviv, now in Ukraine, to a secular Jewish family. He still defines himself today as a secular Jew – an atheist. According to his testimony, his only connection to the Jewish religion at that time was the unleavened bread that his grandmother used to bake during Passover. However, the “Jewish” stamp on his passport distinguished him from the environment, and even though it created many restrictions, including anti-Semitic harassment from everyone who knew, it also united him with other Jews and singled him out as belonging to the Jewish people.
Friedman is divorced and has four children. His family lives in Paris, while he himself lives in Moscow. Despite the distance, he maintains a close relationship with his children and in July 2012 he visited Auschwitz with his three older children to strengthen and maintain their connection to Judaism.
Friedman is the main financier of the Genesis Foundation, which supports the strengthening of Jewish identity among Russian-speaking Jews around the world.
Friedman was among the first oligarchs to speak out against the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
In May 2022, it was announced that Friedman received an Israeli passport, even though he does not own a house in Israel.
Moshe Kantor:
In the 11th place among the richest people in Russia is ranked – Moshe Kantor, Moshe Kantor, President of the European Jewish Congress,
whose value is estimated at 11.3 billion dollars;
Vyacheslav Moshe Kantor, born in 1953, is a Russian Jewish industrialist, scientist, philanthropist and leader, serving as president of the European Jewish Congress and president of the World Holocaust Forum Foundation.
He holds a doctorate in automatic control systems for aircraft and has an honorary doctorate from Tel Aviv University.
Kantor is known worldwide for his persistent war against anti-Semitism and racism. He serves as the president of the European Council for Tolerance and Reconciliation.
In 2005, Kantor founded the World Holocaust Forum Foundation, and serves as its president. In January 2020, Cantor brought to Israel the events of the Fifth World Holocaust Forum, to mark the 75th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz extermination camp and against the background of increasing anti-Semitism in the world. In the event, which the world’s leading media channels described as “the largest diplomatic event in the history of the State of Israel”, 48 leaders from around the world participated.
In the years 2005-2009 he was the president of the Jewish-Russian Congress. Since 2007 Kantor has served as president of the European Jewish Congress, an organization representing 42 Jewish communities in Europe.
In 2010, Kantor established the “Cantor Center for Contemporary European Jewry” and the “Moshe Kantor Database for the Study of Anti-Semitism and Racism in Contemporary Times” at Tel Aviv University. Every year, on the eve of Holocaust Day, the center publishes a report on the state of anti-Semitism in the world.
Cantor serves as governor of the Yad Vashem Council.
Michael Prokhorov
In 12th place among the richest people in Russia is ranked – Michael Prokhorov whose value is estimated at 11.3 billion dollars;
Mikhail Dmitrievich Prokhorov born in 1965, Moscow. He is a Russian Jewish statesman, businessman and oligarch. He is the president of the private investment fund Onexim, the CEO of Polius-Gold, one of the largest gold producers in the world, the president of the Russian Biathlon Union, and he owns most of the shares of Rosal, the largest aluminum company in the world, and the shares of Norilsk Nickel, one of the largest nickel producers in the world.
He also owned the Brooklyn Nets NBA team for a decade (2009-2019).
Ran in the presidential elections in March 2012 against Vladimir Putin and won about 8% of the votes. In 2022, during the Russian invasion of Ukraine, he decided to immigrate to Israel.
Roman Abramovich
In the 16th place among the richest people in Russia is ranked – Roman Abramovich whose value is estimated at 9.2 billion dollars
Roman Arkadyevich Abramovich, born in 1966, is a Russian-Israeli oligarch, businessman, philanthropist and politician.
Over the years, Abramovich lived alternately in Russia, Great Britain and Israel.
He was born in the city of Saratov in Soviet Russia to a Jewish family of Lithuanian origin. He lost his mother when he was one and a half years old. His father was working, so he could not take care of him, and he was handed over to his grandmother. When he was four years old, his father was killed in a construction accident and Abramovich and they moved in with uncles.
Abramovich began his journey in the business world as a merchant during “perestroika” and the breakup of the Soviet Union. He traded in timber, sugar, foodstuffs and other consumer goods.
His breakthrough into the world of the greats began at the end of 1994 when he met the oligarch Boris Berezovsky, an academic who became a successful car dealer, and the two decided to enter as partners in the oil business in Russia. Abramovich contributed his business skills, and Berezovsky took advantage of his connections with senior government officials. Later, a combination of connections with the government and the head of Abramowitz allowed them to reach the highest levels of wealth.
Between 2003 and 2022, Abramovich became famous around the world as the owner of Chelsea, a decorated football club from the Premier League in England.
In February 2022, Abramovich announced the transfer of Chelsea to the trust following the Russian invasion of Ukraine and fear of freezing his assets in the UK due to sanctions. On March 2, 2022, Abramovich announced that he had decided to sell the team and that all profits from the sale would be donated to the orphans of the war in Ukraine. On March 10, his assets in the UK were frozen, and his possibility to sell the club was hindered. In May 2022, Abramovich handed over control of Chelsea to a group of investors led by Todd Buhly, for £2.5 billion. The British government approved the sale after Abramovich pledged to donate the profits to humanitarian causes.
Abramowitz’s contribution to Judaism and Israel:
Abramovich is the head of the board of trustees of the Union of Jewish Communities in the Commonwealth of Nations.
In 2022, he made headlines due to sanctions on his property following the Russia-Ukraine war, and his participation in the peace talks between the countries.
Abramowitz invested about 120 million dollars in 20 Israeli start-up companies, from a range of fields, from medicine and renewable energy to social networks.
In February 2022, representatives of organizations and institutions in Israel sent a letter calling on the United States ambassador to refrain from imposing American sanctions on him. Among the signatories to the letter was Yad Vashem chairman Danny Dayan. Yad Vashem announced that Abramovich had pledged to donate tens of millions of shekels to the Mossad. With the publication of the economic sanctions imposed by Great Britain on Abramovich, the Mossad announced the suspension of the donation.
In 2015, Abramowitz purchased the Versano Hotel and an adjacent lot in the Neve Tzedek neighborhood in Tel Aviv for approximately NIS 100 million, with the aim of building a luxury residence for him and his family. In May 2018, Abramovich immigrated to Israel, after his residence visa in the UK expired. On his rise he became the richest man living in Israel.
In June 2020, Abramovich purchased a mansion in the city of Herzliya worth NIS 226 million, thus making the highest real estate transaction in the history of the State of Israel.
The Jerusalem Post placed Abramovich in 25th place on its list of influential Jews for 2021, calling him a “mega philanthropist” and a “passionate and longtime supporter of Jewish culture around the world.” Abramovich used his position as the owner of Chelsea Football Club, to educate and inspire fans to fight hateful racism. Led and financed a unique and comprehensive global campaign, under the name ‘Say No to Anti-Semitism’, dedicated to raising awareness of anti-Semitism. The campaign included partners such as the World Jewish Congress, ADL, the Holocaust Educational Trust, the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, the Jewish Museum, the Imperial War Museum and the Royal Air Force.
Abramovich was recognized by the Forum for Jewish Culture and Religion, having donated over $500 million to Jewish causes in Russia, the United States, Great Britain, Portugal, Lithuania, Israel and elsewhere over 20 years. initiated the planting of 25,000 trees, in memory of Lithuanian Jews who perished in the Holocaust, plus a virtual tribute monument to Lithuanian Jewry[HecontributedtotherestorationoftheJewishcemeteryinAltonanowaneighborhoodinthecityofHamburgTheprojectiscarriedoutbyBneiBritPortugalInternationalincooperationwithChabadHamburg[תרםלשיקוםביתהקברותהיהודיבאלטונהכיוםשכונהבעירהמבורגהפרויקטמבוצעעלידיבניבריתפורטוגלהבינלאומיתבשיתוףעםחב”דהמבורג
In September 2020, it was announced on the BBC that companies owned by Abramovich donated about one hundred million dollars to the Elad association.
Along with Michael Kadori and Jacob Safra, Abramovich is one of the main benefactors of the Jewish community in Portugal and of Portugal’s allies.
In 2015, Abramovich donated about 30 million dollars to Tel Aviv University to establish an innovative center for nanotechnology.
Among Abramovich’s other contributions is the Sheba Medical Center in Tel Hashomer, to which he contributed more than 60 million dollars to various projects in the field of advanced medicine, including the establishment of a new center for nuclear medicine, which covers 2,000 square meters, and financing projects in cancer research and pediatrics. -2020, on the eve of the outbreak of the corona virus in Israel, financed the expansion of Sheba’s intensive care unit to the underground floors, and the laying of the infrastructure for times of emergency.
Abramovich’s donation to KKL-Junk for a comprehensive forest restoration program in the southern Negev desert helps fight the growing desert in the area and promotes nature tourism to the area.
Abramovich contributed to Jewish art and culture initiatives, including the Tel Aviv Contemporary Culture Festival, M.ART
German Khan
In the 18th place among the richest people in Russia is German Khan, whose value is estimated at 8.2 billion dollars.
German Borisovich Khan was born in 1961. He is a Ukrainian-Russian-Israeli oligarch, billionaire and businessman.
Khan began to make his fortune with the collapse of the Soviet Union in the early 90s of the 20th century, he was appointed by Mikhail Friedman to management positions in Alfa Group, in 2013 the company’s shares were sold to Rosneft and Khan moved to manage the group’s wholesale trade business, ‘Alfa Eco ‘.
He also made his significant fortune from the oil business combined with connections with the Russian government.
Through a joint venture with British Petroleum, a venture that brought the highest foreign investment in Russia up to that time, in the amount of 8 billion dollars and created the third largest oil company in Russia, TNK-BP . Ten years later it was sold TNK-BP to Rosneft for $56 billion, in what was described by Reuters as one of the largest takeovers in the history of the energy sector.