Ukrainian international businessman, Igor Kolomoisky, the new president of the European Council of Jewish Communities. Photo: eajc.org.

A row has erupted among board members of the European Council of Jewish Communities (ECJC) over the nomination of a Ukrainian oligarch as president of the organisation. Three members of the board resigned after the current president, Jonathan Joseph, said the ECJC, in selecting Igor Kolomoisky, had the chance to nominate “a man with the financial resources” who could turn the council around. Speaking at the group’s Presidents’ Conference in Berlin, Joseph said Kolomoisky had agreed to invest millions of euros in the organisation. Dutchman Ben Blog and Claudia De Benedetti and Arturo Tedeschi, both from Italy, said there had been no consultation with board members. Tedeschi described Kolomoisky’s nomination as “both non-democratic and illegal.” Joseph said the group was in severe need of cash.