With an estimated net worth of 48 3.48 billion, Kantor is the largest shareholder in the fertilizer company Acron, which according to the Foreign Office was of vital strategic importance to the Russian government. But in Europe, Kantor is best known for his role as one of the highest-ranking members of the Jewish community, president of the European Jewish Congress (EJC), and for his interest in Jewish charities, education, and events. Born in Moscow and now a British citizen, Kantor, 68, has close ties to Vladimir Putin and has traveled extensively to meet with the Russian president, according to Haaretz. In 2017, Putin awarded Cantor the Medal of Honor “in recognition of his professional achievements and long-term fair work.” The Kantor Center, founded by the billionaire in Israel, condemned Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. In 2015, Kantor appointed Tony Blair to a role in tackling anti-Semitism as President of the European Council on Tolerance and Reconciliation, an organization funded and founded by Kantor. Mr Blair continues to co-chair the party, along with former Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurtz. Kantor is vice president of the Jewish Leadership Council and honorary life president of a school in Ilford, East London, Kantor King Solomon, along with tycoon The Apprentice Lord Alan Sugar. It also hosted the World Holocaust Forum, marking the 75th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz death camp, which was attended in Jerusalem by Prince Charles, Macron, then-US Vice President Mike Pence and Pau. The Kantor Center, which he founded at Tel Aviv University, issued a statement condemning the war in Ukraine as an “unprovoked invasion” and the cowardly war crimes committed on the instructions of Vladimir Putin. He said the Russian invasion was an “aggressive form of fascism” and added: “Putin has in his hands the blood of thousands of victims, including children. “His policies are an existential threat to world democracy, peace and security.” The EJC said it was “deeply shocked and disappointed by the decision” to impose sanctions on Kantor, adding: “Dr. Kantor has received the most important awards and honors from many European Heads of State and Government. We demand that this decision be revoked as soon as possible. “ Other oligarchs imposed sanctions by the United Kingdom on Wednesday were: Andrey Guryev, a major shareholder in PhosAgro, one of the largest fertilizer companies in the world, traded shares on the London Stock Exchange until they were suspended after the invasion. It was revealed in 2015 that he was the owner of an offshore company that owned the 25-bedroom Witanhurst mansion next to Hampstead Heath in London, the UK’s second largest private residence after Buckingham Palace. Leonid Mikhelson, the founder of the Russian gas company Novatek, which also listed its shares in London before the invasion. Mikhelson has an estimated net worth of $ 22 billion (£ 17 billion), according to Forbes, and his business partner is the sanctioned oligarch Gennady Timchenko. Mikhelson, an avid collector of works of art, founded a non-profit Russian contemporary art institute, VAC, in 2009, which has since funded international collaborations, including in London. Boris Rotenberg, son of the co-owner of Russia’s largest gas producer, SGM, joins his billionaire father and uncle on the sanctions list. He lives in Belgravia, London, according to the governments of the United Kingdom and the United States. Sergei Kogogin is the director of Kamaz, a manufacturer of trucks and buses, including for the Russian army. Andrei Akimov is the CEO of Russia’s third largest bank, Gazprombank, which was sanctioned by the US in 2018 amid anger over Russia’s apparent interference in the 2016 US election. Sergei Sergeyevich Ivanov is the son of one of Putin’s closest associates, Sergei Ivanov, a former KGB agent who became deputy prime minister and defense minister. He is the president of the world’s largest diamond company, Alrosa, which was also sanctioned by the United Kingdom on Wednesday. Alrosa produces almost a third of the world’s rough diamonds. Aleksander Dyukov is the CEO of Gazprom Neft, Russia’s third largest and most state-owned oil producer. A shipbuilding engineer by training, he worked at the St. Petersburg oil terminal shortly after Putin’s term as deputy mayor and has served on the board of the Sibur petrochemical company along with other Putin allies.
