Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Breaking News

Prominent Russian Jews On List Of U.S. Treasury Targets

A Treasury Department report submitted to Congress lists 210 Russian government officials and billionaires close to the government who may be subject to U.S. sanctions. The list, commonly referred to as the “Putin list,” is required by Congress as part of legislation meant to penalize Russia for its interference in the 2016 elections and for its invasion of Ukraine.

Among the names of oligarchs, defined as businessmen with a fortune worth more than $1 billion, surrounding Putin, there are more than a dozen Jewish Russians, who may end up on America’s sanctions list:

Roman Abramovich

Recognized around the world as the owner of England’s Chelsea football club, Abramovich is best known in Russia as one of Vladimir Putin’s earliest and closest confidants. The 51-years-old billionaire is a major donor to Chabad and chairs the Putin-friendly Federation of Jewish Communities in Russia.

Viatcheslav Moshe Kantor

President of the European Jewish Congress and chair of the European Jewish Fund. Kantor, who is worth $3.1 billion, is an active philanthropists for causes focused on Holocaust remembrance and fighting anti-Semitism in Europe.

Mikhail Fridman

A dual-citizen of Russia and Israel, Fridman is ranked the 7th richest person in Russia. Fridman, who resides in London, was among the founders of the Russian Jewish Congress and of the Genesis Prize Foundation which awards a $1 million annual prize for outstanding professional achievement, contribution to humanity and dedication to Jewish values.

Vadim Moshkovich

The owner of Russia’s largest agricultural production company, Moshkovich is also a major donor to Moscow’s Jewish museum.

Boris Mints

Mints, who lost members of his mother’s family in the Holocaust, chairs the Conference of European Rabbis, Europe’s largest Orthodox organization, and is vice president of the World Jewish Congress.

God Nisanov

Born in Azerbijan, Nisanov, 45, made his fortune in real estate and business development. He is close to Putin and was awarded the medal commemorating the 70 years anniversary of Russia’s World War II victory. Nisanov served as vice president of the World Jewish Congress.

Arkady and Boris Rotenberg

Founders of Russia’s SMP Bank, the Rotenberg brothers have already felt the sting of US sanctions. They lost access to international financial institutions and saw their villas in Italy confiscated. A law named after the Rotenberg brothers provides compensation to Russian citizens hit by international sanctions. Arkady Rotenberg has known Putin since childhood and is his long time judo partner.

Contact Nathan Guttman at [email protected] or on Twitter @nathanguttman

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you move on, I wanted to ask you to support the Forward’s award-winning journalism during our High Holiday Monthly Donor Drive.

If you’ve turned to the Forward in the past 12 months to better understand the world around you, we hope you will support us with a gift now. Your support has a direct impact, giving us the resources we need to report from Israel and around the U.S., across college campuses, and wherever there is news of importance to American Jews.

Make a monthly or one-time gift and support Jewish journalism throughout 5785. The first six months of your monthly gift will be matched for twice the investment in independent Jewish journalism. 

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.