| Boris Birshtein | |
| Birth Date: | 11 November 1947 |
| Birth Place: | Lithuania |
| Nationality: | Canadian |
| Occupation: | Businessman |
Boris Birshtein, born 11 November 1947 in Lithuania, is a businessman and the former chairman of Seabeco, an investment and trading company.[1]
Birshtein emigrated to Israel in 1979 and began building the Seabeco Group, an international network of companies that officially traded oil, gold, diamonds and chemicals.[2] The very well connected Birshtein was an influential figure across the former Soviet Union.[3] Birshtein survived a car crash that killed the then Prime Minister of Kyrgyzstan, Nasirdin Isanov.[4]
In 1991, Kyrgyzstan's then president, Askar Akayev, appointed Birshtein president of the country's committee for reconstruction and development. Shortly afterward, the Kirgiz government empowered Birshtein to act as its trade representative abroad.[5]
In 1992, Birshtein helped ensure Canada’s Cameco Corp. won the contract to develop Kyrgyzstan’s giant Kumtor Gold Mine. He was also the owner of Moldova’s top hotel.[6]
Birshtein is the former chairman of Seabeco Group. Seabeco invested in property in Russia in the late 1980s and early 1990s, including the 30-story Trump Tower luxury hotel, a theatre complex and gymnasium.