The arrival of 5,000 to 10,000 Hasidim in the city of Uman, Cherkasy region to celebrate the Jewish holiday Rosh Hashanah is expected in 2020, and this causes great concern both within Ukraine and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Israel, Minister of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine Oleh Nemchinov said.
“Today, a meeting of the State Commission on Manmade Disaster and Emergency Response was held. One of the key issues that were discussed was the planned mass pilgrimage of Breslov Chasidim in September 2020 to the city of Uman, Cherkasy region to celebrate Rosh Hashanah (Jewish New Year),” Nemchinov wrote on his Facebook page.
In this regard, the commission instructed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to strengthen communication to inform foreign citizens about the restrictions in force in Ukraine, the Ministry of Internal Affairs to strengthen and ensure security during the celebration of Rosh Hashanah, the State Border Guard Service to develop a booklet of stay in Ukraine and distribute it at the crossing Ukrainian border, as well as inform about a possible ban on entry to Ukraine for several years in case of violation of lockdown.
“In addition, at the meeting of the commission, it was noted that in 2020, Ukrainian Christians and Muslims abstained from mass events during the celebration of their largest religious holidays,” Nemchinov said.
Raben Ukraine logistics company, a subsidiary of the international logistics company Raben Group (the Netherlands), has opened a new distribution center (cross dock) in Uman (Cherkasy region), the company’s press service has said.
The Uman distribution center, the 24th in the company’s network, will serve Uman, part of Cherkasy, Vinnytsia and Kirovohrad regions, and will make it possible to significantly reduce time for delivery of goods.
“Uman has a convenient geographical location, because it is located at the intersection of two major highways: E95, connecting the north and the south of the country, and E50, connecting the west and the east. The opening of a distribution center in Uman will help reduce delivery time by 24 hours,” director general of Raben Ukraine Inna Ocheretna said.
According to her, in the future the delivery of products requiring a special temperature regime from the new transportation center is being considered, which will cover the northern part of Odesa and Mykolaiv regions with services.
Raben Ukraine LLC, a subsidiary of the international logistics company Raben Group, has been operating in the logistics market since 2003. Its branches are located in Kyiv, Dnipro, Zaporizhia, Kharkiv, Odesa, Lviv, Khmelnytsky, and Rivne. It has about 70,000 square meters of warehouse space (including regions) and almost 600 vehicles in the fleet.
The President of Ukraine was informed of an extremely unpleasant incident in Uman, the Hasidic pilgrimage center, in which the city authorities were involved.
This was stated by the founder and head of the Orthodox Jewish Chamber of Commerce (New York), Duvi Honig.
“The Chamber of Commerce of Orthodox Jews sent a delegation here to call on President Zelensky to stop corruption in Uman, where land is being taken away from Jews. The local mayor and his deputy are demanding huge bribes in exchange for permission to build a memorial complex that includes a twenty-thousand-seat synagogue to accommodate everyone who comes to the city to meet Rosh Hashanah (Jewish New Year – Ed.) They demand 300 thousand dollars into their own pockets. We have all the documents, but they want to change the zoning and make a park on the land unless they receive these dollars. Today we met with President Zelensky after we had passed this information onto him two days ago, and the president said that he would personally deal with this matter. We are now sending him all the documents, but he has already sent a delegation from the President’s Office to Uman to deal with the situation on the spot, and this has already been done,” he said.
“We thank President Zelensky for his quick response and leadership. We were pleased to meet with him and we will help the people of Ukraine, the people of Kyiv and Uman, become a modern nation, rather than a third world country. People who come to Uman from the United States, Canada, Israel, Europe should live in normal conditions, have a normal spiritual center, because currently there is no proper infrastructure. And, of course, the mayor and his deputy must leave their posts. They must understand that it is impossible to blackmail and sabotage and use own society as a piggy bank,” Duvi Honig said.
Recall that for more than 10 years the Jewish religious community of Bratslav Hasidim has been fighting for the right to build a Jewish memorial complex in Uman – one of the largest Jewish spiritual centers in Ukraine.
The head of the orthodox Jewish Chamber of Commerce is Mr. Duvi Honig.
CORRUPTION, JCC, SCANDAL, UMAN
Founder and head of the Orthodox Jewish Chamber of Commerce (New York) Duvi Honig has called on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to take measures to clean up corruption among local officials in Uman, Cherkasy region and in so doing resurrect the city as one of the largest Jewish spiritual centers. Honig said during a press conference at the Kyiv-based Interfax-Ukraine news agency on Friday that for more than 10 years the Jewish religious community of the Bratslav Hasidim has been fighting for the right to build a Jewish memorial complex in Uman. He said a synagogue with a capacity of 30,000 is also planned.
He said in 2008, a one-hectare land plot was leased for 49 years to the community for the construction of the facility. A detailed plan of the territory allocated for the construction of the center was then developed. However, he said local authorities began to demand a bribe for approving the construction plan of the complex.
Honig said after the refusal to give a bribe, the purpose of the land on which the construction was supposed to be was changed.
“I would like to thank President Volodymyr Zelensky for saying that he wants to build little Jerusalem out of Uman, that he wants to stop corruption in Ukraine. I came to Uman and looked at what was happening there, sorted out the mayor, deputy mayor, created a committee or commission if necessary to monitor the situation […] how the purpose of the site was changed, because now the construction site has been stolen,” Honig said.
According to him, currently there are no opportunities for the construction of the memorial complex.
“In fact, there may be a good wave of investments that can help Uman and Ukraine prosper. […] But this may not happen precisely because of corruption,” he said.
As reported, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will visit Kyiv on August 18-20. He is expected to meet with Zelensky during his trip.
On Friday, August 16, at 11.00 the press center of the Interfax-Ukraine news agency will host a press conference “Corruption Scandal in Uman: Will Netanyahu’s Visit Help Bring to Reason Bribe Takers” with the participation of the founder and head of the Orthodox Jewish Chamber of Commerce (New York) Duvi Honig (8/5a Reitarska Street). Registration of journalists requires press accreditation. Additional information by phone: +38 067 862 5997.
CORRUPTION SCANDAL, NETANYAHU'S, PRESS CONFERENCE, UMAN, VISIT
