A prominent Ukrainian Jewish leader was declared one of the most influential Ukrainians.
Aleksandr Feldman, a member of the Ukrainian parliament, made the Russian-language Kiev weekly magazine Focus list of the 200 most influential Ukrainians. He was also named the national Philanthropist of the Year and his Aleksandr Feldman Charitable Foundation was recognized as the national Foundation of the Year.
More than 10 of those who made it to this year’s Focus list are prominent Jews.
Feldman’s foundation was declared the best among 35 charitable organizations in Ukraine. President Viktor Yuschenko recently awarded Feldman the top national honor.
Along with the foundation, Feldman, 47, heads the Jewish Foundation of Ukraine and the International Center for Tolerance.
He is a well-known politician, an advocate of Jewish interests in the Ukrainian parliament and a member of the political Bloc of Julia Timoshenko, the prime minister of Ukraine.
Rabbis are not on the list because, according to the magazine, “they are not citizens of Ukraine.”
