Diaspora museum chair Navzlin slams election of Putin crony as EJC president

Diaspora museum chair Navzlin slams election of Putin crony as EJC president

By Amiram Barkat

Leonid Nevzlin, chairman of the board of trustees of Beth Hatefutsoth, Museum of the Jewish Diaspora, yesterday blasted the election of Russian tycoon Viatcheslav Moshe Kantor to the presidency of the European Jewish Congress on Sunday.

Nevzlin said there were serious doubts regarding Kantor's agenda as EJC president.



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Referring to Kantor's close ties with the Kremlin, Nevzlin said, "when the president of EJC is close to the Kremlin, a reactionary institution that does not respect European democratic values, he is not likely to contribute to the development of Europe's Jewry and its relations with Israel."

Kantor, owner of one of the largest Russian fertilizer producers, Acron, was embroiled in the late '90s in a business dispute with the Gibraltar-based Menatep Group, one of whose main owners is Nevzlin. At a later stage the Russian State Prosecution opened a probe against the concern's chairman, tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky.

The probe forced Nevzlin to immigrate to Israel, while Khodorkovsky was sentenced to a prolonged jail term.