25. The Jewish Women's Microenterprise
Loan Fund, operating with support from Combined Jewish Philanthropies of
Greater Boston (the Jewish federation in Boston), aims to assist Jewish women
in generating and/or expanding small businesses in Dnipropetrovsk. All loans
are processed through PrivatBank, a large and highly-regarded bank controlled
by two Dnipropetrovsk Jewish oligarchs, Hennady Boholubov and Ihor Kolomoisky.
A committee of PrivatBank officials and local
Jewish community representatives evaluates loan applications. The average loan
in recent years has been $3,500, the maximum was $5,000. In addition to the
application itself, the loan committee also considers personal circumstances of
the applicant, such as family income and number of dependents. More than 80
loans have been extended since inception of the project and almost all have
been paid in full or are on schedule with repayment. Only two are late, said
the director, Natasha Rier; the committee does not yet consider these to
be defaults.
The Loan Fund currently is managing 20 active
projects, Ms. Rier said, noting that its capacity is about 25 outstanding
loans. The current political and economic situation in Ukraine has made both
people and banks highly risk-averse. They have received 15 to 20 percent
fewer applications than usual, stated Ms. Rier.
People
still have good ideas, she continued, but they are afraid to act. Ms. Rier
said that many would-be applicants already are working two or even three jobs
to make ends meet; when they come to her, they are depressed (подавленные)
and overwhelmed by the circumstances of their daily lives. Some are
well-educated, she acknowledged, but they just are unable to create suc-cessful
lives. She becomes a counselor, trying to help women focus on attainable
goals.
Natasha
Rier has directed the Jewish Women's Microenter-prise Loan Fund since its
inceptions. The current uncertain situation in Ukraine makes business
development very diffi-cult, she says.
Photo: the writer.
The Loan Fund arranges classes in basic
business management and assists women in writing business plans. It works with
ORT to offer courses in computer skills, from basic computer literacy to
advanced applications. Ms. Rier also considers Project Kesher a valued partner
for its ORT/Keshernet program, which teaches Microsoft Office. The women who
enroll in business management and/or computer classes meet several times each
week and form a natural support group that helps them deal with their
psychological issues, Ms. Rier said.
Synagogue-Administered
Activity
26. Rabbi Shmuel Kaminezki, a native
of Kfar Chabad in Israel, is Chief Rabbi of Dnipropetrovsk and Dnipropetrovsk
oblast. He was sent to the city, an important site in Chabad history, by Chabad
Rebbe Menachem Mendel Schneerson nearly 25 years ago and today is considered by
many observers to be the most capable large-city rabbi in all of the
post-Soviet states. He has built a complex communal infrastructure, including
both social welfare and educational institutions as well as the grand Menorah
Center. He enjoys excellent relations with international Jewish organizations,
such as the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, the Jewish Agency for
Israel, and ORT; he also encourages the unique and fruitful sister-city
relationship between the Jewish communities of Dnipro-petrovsk and Boston. In
addition to connections with Jewish organizations, Rabbi Kaminezki is respected
by local, oblast, and national government officials as well as diplomats and
other foreigners who perceive him as a keen observer of local and national
developments in Ukraine.
Rabbi Shmuel Kaminezki was born in
Israel and completed rabbinic training in the United States. His advice is
widely sought.
Photo: the writer (in 2013).
In speaking of Russian interference in
Ukraine, Rabbi Kaminezki said that all Ukrainian Jewish oligarchs are
patriotic Ukrainians and support the independence of Ukraine. Many are
extending financial assistance to the Ukrainian government, a circumstance that
is well-known among the general population and greatly appreciated. Support
for Ukrainian sovereignty is solid among the Dnipropetrovsk Jewish population,
Rabbi Kaminezki stated.
Rabbi Kaminezki continued that Jews
should pray for peace and harmony and should eschew politics when speaking from
a Jewish community platform. It must be accepted, he continued, that Jews in
Ukraine support the government of Ukraine; Jews from Russia should not attempt
to persuade them to do otherwise.
Rabbi Kaminezki spoke very positively
of the new Israeli professionals representing the Joint Distribution Committee
and the Jewish Agency for Israel - Yoni Leifer and Natasha Nabitovsky
and Max Lurie - in the region. They are all strong professionals, he said,
and he looks forward to working with them.
In response to a question, Rabbi
Kaminezki acknowledged that the ongoing financial crisis is having a
major deleterious impact on the Chabad community in Dnipropetrovsk. A number
of formerly generous donors have suffered serious business losses and, in
response, have trimmed their contributions to the Philanthropic Fund. Additionally,
individuals and organizations have cancelled events in the Menorah Center, thus
reducing revenues expected from that facility. Sometimes, he continued, it is
difficult to pay salaries on time.
With the exception of difficulties
caused by the economic crisis, the Menorah Center is fulfilling the
goals established for it, said Rabbi Kaminezki. It has become a true communal
center; at any time on a weekday, he continued, between 1,500 and 1,700 people
are in the building. In addition to the businesses and organizations that
maintain offices and program areas in the building, a low-cost, but profitable,
diner attracts 300 to 400 people daily for lunch or dinner, and a market-rate
coffee shop attracts another clientele. An upscale kosher restaurant was due
to open soon.
As soon as finances permit, the small
community center building attached to the back of the synagogue will be
renovated and turned over to certain community operations that do not generate
revenue. These include executive offices of the Chabad community, Adopt-a-Bubbe,
and the Jewish Women's Microenterprise Loan Fund, said Rabbi Kaminezki.
Additionally, the management offices of the Menorah Center itself probably will
be moved to the old building because the space that it currently occupies could
be leased to commercial firms that pay market rent.
27. Vyecheslav “Slavik”
or “Zelig” Brez
is the Executive Director
(Исполнительный
директор) of the Philanthropic
Fund of the Dnipropetrovsk Jewish Community (Благотворительный фонд Днепропетровского еврейского общины), which supports
Chabad interests in the city.
Mr. Brez stated that
the Philanthropic Fund annual budget, which stood at about $5
million in better years, is $4.3 million in 2013-2014 and probably will
be about $3.3 million in 2014-2015. (The budget excludes expenses for the
Menorah Center, Beit Chana, the Jewish Medical Center, and certain other
projects/programs that are financed separately.) The considerable decline
reflects fewer contributions, contri-butions of lesser value, community
politics, changes in the currency exchange rate that are unfavorable to
Ukraine, and inflation that is largely a product of the confrontation with
Russia.
Many Philanthropic
Fund donors, continued Mr. Brez, have lost their businesses; as examples, he
cited several local Jews who owned property in Crimea that has been
commandeered by Russians without compensation. Others have lost trade partners
in Russia or own businesses in Ukraine that are dependent upon a middle or even
upper class clientele that exists in far fewer numbers than previously.
A major donor whose
gift provided a substantial portion of the budget has ceased giving due to a
business dispute with other major donors. The value of the Ukrainian currency
(hryvnia) has plunged 35 percent in the last three months [as of early April
2014], thus making all imported goods much more expensive than earlier.
Asked about inflation,
Mr. Brez responded that the cost of fuel (transportation and heating) has
increased about 25 percent in the last year. Imported goods have increased 25
to 30 percent he said, and local food has increased 10 to 15 percent. He
attributed the rise in food costs to increased fuel prices.
Above
all, stated Mr. Brez, is the sense of uncertainty, which has almost
paralyzed donors. People, even usually very confident and decisive successful
businessmen, are risk-averse when uncertainty prevails in every dimension of
life. The number of regular fairly substantive donors to the Philanthropic
Fund, which was almost 90 several years ago, fell to 70 in 2012-2013 and
probably will be about 50 this year. The Philanthropic Fund is too
dependent on a small number of major donors, acknowledged Mr. Brez; when
one declines to give because of conflicts with other donors or because of
business setbacks, the community suffers enormously.
Zelig Brez is the executive director
of the Chabad philanthropic fund and the general Chabad infrastructure in
Dnipropetrovsk.
Photo: the writer.
In response, Mr. Brez
said, the Chabad community has initiated major reductions in its
programs, although it has taken care to preserve welfare measures for the most
vulnerable population groups, i.e., elderly and small children. It has
postponed indefinitely all but the most vital capital projects, including
repairs, unless donors can be found to sponsor them. It has suspended
operation of its summer camps for local Jewish children, a move that saves
about $200,000. It has reduced the number of Israeli teachers of Jewish
subjects in its schools, saving more than $100,000 that had to be paid for
transportation, higher salaries, rent allowances, insurance, and other costs;
the engagement of more local Jews as Jewish-content teachers is possible only
because the community had invested in their Jewish education at Beit Chana and
in certain foreign institutions, Mr. Brez noted. Some executive salaries that
previously were paid in United States currency are now paid in Ukrainian
hryvnia, a significant financial burden to the recipients. Additional savings
also have been implemented, stated Mr. Brez, and more will be in place in
2014-2015.
Antisemitism, although always
present in Ukraine, has not increased as much as might be expected under the
current difficult economic circumstances, said Mr. Brez in answer to a
question. The right-wing individuals and groups from western Ukraine are more
patriotic than nationalist, he stated. The real danger to Jews comes from the
strongly Russian nationalist speech and actions of President Vladimir Putin of
Russia, as well as from provocative writing of certain Russian journalists,
averred Mr. Brez.
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