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Boris Spiegel

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Boris Spiegel
Бори́с Исаа́кович Шпи́гель
Born (1953-02-18) February 18, 1953 (age 71)
Proskurov, Ukrainian SSR, USSR
(now Khmelnytskyi, Ukraine)
Occupation(s)Politician and businessman

Boris Spiegel (born 18 February 1953 in Khmelnytskyi, Ukraine) (Russian: Бори́с Исаа́кович Шпи́гель) is a Russian politician and businessman. Haaretz describes him as an oligarch who is "closely tied to the Kremlin."[1] From 2003 to 2013, he represented Penza Oblast in the Russian Federation Council; in December 2011, he was appointed the First Deputy Chairman of the Committee on Constitutional Legislation, Legal and Judicial Affairs and Civil Society Development.[2]

In 2010, he founded World Without Nazism, an organisation with close ties to the Russian government, formed to affirm the Russian version of history, particularly in relation to the Soviet occupation of the Baltic states and the Holodomor. This followed the establishment of the Presidential Commission of the Russian Federation to Counter Attempts to Falsify History to the Detriment of Russia's Interests the previous year. The organization is described in the Annual Review of the Estonian Security Police as a propaganda organization aimed at promoting "a Soviet-era approach to World War II."[3] It cooperates closely with the Finnish Anti-Fascist Committee.[4] He is also chairman of the organization World Congress of Russian Jewry (WCRJ),[5] an organisation that according to The Jewish Chronicle "works on behalf of the Kremlin" despite its nominal independence.[6] During the 2008 South Ossetia War, acting as president of WCRJ, he accused Georgia of committing genocide, which attracted criticism from Israeli voices.[1]

The Jewish Chronicle writes that Spiegel "is firmly in the pro-Putin camp. His subservience was clearly on show […] during the fighting in the Caucasus when he joined the Kremlin's propaganda campaign calling for the establishment of a tribunal that would investigate Georgia's 'war crimes' and 'genocide.'"[6]

Spiegel has accused the countries that were formerly part of the Communist Bloc (except Russia and Belarus) of "rapid nazification". He also criticizes the "Western European democracies" for their alleged role in starting World War II. He proposes a common history textbook for all of Europe based on "serious scientific study, as well as the decisions of international judicial and political authorities on which basis the postwar world order had been built."[7]

He founded the pharmaceutical company Biotech [ru] in 1990 and the music production company "Music. Perfection. Beauty" in 1999. He has been deputy chairman of the political party Revival of Russia since 2002.

In January 2011, Spiegel was the subject of media attention when he was robbed of $280,000 in cash in his hotel room.[8]

He is the former father-in-law of popular Russian tenor singer Nikolay Baskov.

He is one of the few Russian politicians who openly proclaim himself as an adherent of Judaism.[citation needed] On Spiegel's initiative, monuments depicting Soviet Red Army soldiers have been erected in the Israeli city of Netanya.[9]

In March 2013, Spiegel resigned from the Russian Federation Council.[10]

During COVID-19 pandemic Spiegel's companies were one of the major Russian suppliers of antiviral medications (Avifavir, Areplivir), diagnostic systems Biozek[11] and antiseptic solutions. In 2020 his companies sold 45 billion Russian ruble (approximately $600 million) worth of Covid medications.[12]

Spiegel and his wife Evgenia Spiegel were detained by the Russian police in March 2021 in connection with allegedly giving bribes to Penza Oblast governor Ivan Belozertsev.[13][14][15] In his March 2021 interview with Marina Litvinovich Spiegel alleged that his criminal case was fabricated in order to change the ownership of his successful pharmaceutical business, complained about the tortuous detention conditions and compared himself with Sergei Magnitsky.[16]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Head of World Congress of Russian Jewry Accuses Georgia of Genocide". Haaretz.
  2. ^ "The Council of Federation / Committees". Archived from the original on 2012-02-11. Retrieved 2012-02-15.
  3. ^ "Annual Review 2010 of the Security Police Board" (PDF). Estonian Security Police. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-03-05. Retrieved 2012-02-04.
  4. ^ "Kohudosentti julistettiin turvallisuusuhaksi - Bäckman ei pääse Viroon | Kotimaan uutiset | Iltalehti.fi". Archived from the original on 2014-04-16. Retrieved 2012-02-04.
  5. ^ "Boris Shpigel". Archived from the original on 2011-11-02. Retrieved 2012-02-03.
  6. ^ a b Anshel Pfeffer (3 October 2008), Selling out to Premier Putin, The Jewish Chronicle
  7. ^ Boris Spiegel (22 November 2011). "Statement by the "World without Nazism" movement". Embassy of Russia in the Netherlands. Archived from the original on 2013-05-01. Retrieved 2012-02-03.
  8. ^ "Член совета федерации Борис Шпигель ограблен в Израиле - 16 Января 2011 - RussianLeaks". Archived from the original on 2013-07-29. Retrieved 2012-02-04.
  9. ^ "Israel to build monument honoring Red Army". Archived from the original on 2011-11-01. Retrieved 2012-02-04.
  10. ^ "Russian Jewish senators resign amid double nationality scandal". Archived from the original on 2013-03-30. Retrieved 2013-03-29.
  11. ^ "Home". Biozek.
  12. ^ "СК задержал главу одного из крупнейших поставщиков лекарств от COVID-19". RBC. 21 March 2021.
  13. ^ "Russian Regional Governor, A Strong Putin Supporter, Held On Graft Charges". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. 22 March 2021. Retrieved 2021-03-22.
  14. ^ ""Единая Россия" приостановила членство губернатора Пензенской области Белозерцева в партии". ТАСС. Retrieved 2021-03-22.
  15. ^ "Жену главы "Биотэка" Шпигеля арестовали по делу пензенского губернатора". RBC. 23 March 2021.
  16. ^ Litvinovich, Marina (26 March 2021). ""Я не жилец, это точно" Борис Шпигель поделился с "Ъ" версией своего уголовного преследования". No. 51. Kommersant.
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