Early life and education

Shifrin was born in Dnipropetrovsk, Soviet Ukraine, the son of metallurgy professor Vladimir Moiseyevich Shifrin.^[1] In 1976–7 he came first in the National Ukrainian Physics Olympiad. From 1977–1983, he attended the Moscow Institute of Steel and Alloys, becoming a metallurgical engineer. He later returned to school and obtained a PhD in metallurgy in 1992.^[2]

Business career

From 1983 to 1993, Shifrin worked in Zaporizhia at the steel company Dniprospecstal, rising from assistant foreman to manager of the steel plant and then head of marketing.^[1][2] He then rose to prominence as a business oligarch in newly independent Ukraine, taking control of privatized steelmaker Zaporizhstal. He co-founded, with Alexander Shnaider, Midland Group, a holding company headquartered in Guernsey that embraces interests in steel (including Zaporizhstal, Ukraine's fourth largest steel mill), shipping, real estate, agriculture and sports. Together they own a share in The St. Regis Toronto and formerly owned Maccabi Tel Aviv and a Formula One team, Midland F1 Racing.^[3]

In the 2006 edition of the Sunday Times Rich List, Shifrin was listed at no. 59 with an estimated wealth of £920 million.^[4] In Forbes magazine's ranking of "The World's Billionaires" in 2009, Shifrin was ranked 559th with an estimated fortune of $1.3 billion.^[5] In 2013, Focus magazine estimated his net worth at $893.3 million, making him the No. 20 richest person in Ukraine.^[1] By 2020 Shifrin completed his pull-out from Russia and by 2022 all his businesses in former-Soviet countries were closed.

Writing career

In 2006, together with his late father, Shifrin published a book titled The Theory of Metallurgical Processes for which he was awarded the State Prize of Ukraine.

In 2018 Shifrin's book From Infinity to Man: The Fundamental Ideas of Kabbalah Within the Framework of Information Theory and Quantum Physics was published in Russian, with an English edition being released in 2019.^[6]

In 2019, his children's book Travels with Sushi in the Land of the Mind was published in English.^[7] In 2020 it was named a Distinguished Favorite by the Independent Press Award for Juvenile Fiction.^[8]

He is a sponsor of Jewish Book Week.^[9]

He regularly writes articles about the Kabbalah of Information for the Jerusalem Post.^[10]

Philanthropy

In 2003 he financed the reconstruction of the oldest synagogue in Kyiv and Jewish educational center dedicated to his late father.^[11] He also co-sponsored the construction of synagogues in Moscow, Volgograd, and Zaporozhye.^[2] He sponsors over 60 Chabad educational classes for children. He served as regional vice-president of the World Jewish Congress.^[2][12] Following the outbreak of full-scale hostilities between Russia and Ukraine in 2022, Shifrin decried armed conflict^[13] and submitted a request to the Russian embassy in London in which he strongly condemned the aggression against Ukraine^[14] and requested the renunciation of his Russian citizenship.^[15] He and other family members donated to Ukrainian organizations supporting people within and near warzones^[16] including the UK-based World Jewish Relief.^[17]