Lev Leviev

Lev Leviev was born in 1956 in Tashkent

Leviev was born on 30 July 1956 to Avner and Chana Leviev, members of the Bukharian Jewish community in Soviet Uzbekistan. In 1971 the family moved to Israel and settled in Netanya. He is an Orthodox Jew with close ties to the Chabad movement.

After arriving in Israel he studied at the Tomchei Tmimim yeshiva in Lod. He then worked as an apprentice in a diamond polishing plant. He later served in the IDF.

In 1977 he opened his own diamond polishing plant, and in 1980 he bought 12 competing factories. He later took full ownership of Ruis, a polishing venture in Russia, and invested in diamond mines in Angola. In 1996 he bought control of Africa Israel Investments, which was hit hard by the 2008 financial crisis and restructured its debt in 2010.

In 1992 he founded the Ohr Avner Foundation, which supports Jewish communities in the former Soviet Union. He heads the Federation of Jewish Communities of Russia and the World Congress of Bukharian Jews. His company's building in West Bank settlements drew protests.

At the end of 2007 he moved from Bnei Brak to London. He moved to Russia in 2018 and now lives in Israel.