Moshe Kantor: UK sanctions Russian billionaire over ties to Putin
The Russian billionaire Moshe Kantor, who was sanctioned by the UK government on Wednesday, has long cultivated deep ties with British politicians and establishment figures, including Tony Blair and Prince Charles.
With an estimated net worth of £3.48bn, Kantor is the largest shareholder in the fertiliser company Acron, which the Foreign Office said had vital strategic significance for the Russian government.
But in Europe Kantor is best known as the holder of one of the Jewish community’s most high-profile roles, president of the European Jewish Congress (EJC), as well as his multitude of interests in Jewish charities, education and events.
Born in Moscow and now a British citizen, Kantor, 68, has maintained close ties to Vladimir Putin, and has brought a number of delegations to meet the Russian president, according to Haaretz. In 2017, Putin bestowed Kantor with the Order of Honour “in recognition of his professional achievements and longstanding fair work”.
The Kantor Centre, which the billionaire founded in Israel, has condemned Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.
In 2015, Kantor appointed Tony Blair to a role tackling antisemitism as chairman of the European Council on Tolerance and Reconciliation, an organisation funded and founded by Kantor. Blair is still listed as a chair of the organisation, along with the former Austrian chancellor Sebastian Kurz.
Kantor is vice president of the Jewish Leadership Council and honorary life president of a school in Ilford, east London, Kantor King Solomon, jointly with The Apprentice tycoon Lord Alan Sugar.
He also organised the World Holocaust Forum, which marked the 75th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz death camp, attended in Jerusalem by Prince Charles, Macron, then US
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