Vadim Shulman is the sole candidate for president of the Euro-Asian Jewish Congress.
By GIL STERN STERN SHEFLER
The Euro-Asian Jewish Congress is expected to elect businessman Vadim Shulman to be its new president at a gathering at the King David Citadel Hotel in Jerusalem this Thursday.The businessman, who holds Russian, Ukrainian and Israeli citizenships, is the only candidate to put forward his name to head the Jewish advocacy group, which is an affiliate of the World Jewish Congress.He will replace Kazakhstani- Israeli businessman Alexander Machkevitch who founded the organization 10 years ago.According to the Euro- Asian Jewish Congress website, the 51-year-old Shulman made his money during the 1990s from investments in mining and telecommunications.“Making money is not my main goal in my life – nor of those of many businessmen,” he recently told Calcalist in an interview.“Money is of course important and one has to invest it wisely but there are different forms of investment. The decision to invest in orphanages and hospitals, or fixing up religious institutes, benefits the donor not in nominal terms but gives him a sense of satisfaction.”In recent years he has donated to Jewish causes in Dnipropetrovsk and Kiev and is also the head of the Ukrainian Tennis Federation.Machkevitch said he stepped down in order to “focus on his businesses.”