| 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.