Kantor Foundation

UK grant-making trust established by Moshe Kantor, wound up following UK sanctions in 2022

Kantor Foundation (charity number 1173549) was a UK-registered grant-making trust established in 2017 by Russian-Israeli billionaire philanthropist Dr Viatcheslav Moshe Kantor (commonly known as Moshe Kantor). It operated alongside the Kantor Charitable Foundation (charity number 1173550) as one of two principal UK vehicles through which Moshe Kantor directed substantial philanthropic giving, primarily in support of Jewish communal projects, Holocaust education, cultural initiatives, and medical causes.

The foundation was administered exclusively by the corporate trustee Kantor Trustees Ltd, of which Moshe Kantor was the sole director until UK sanctions were imposed in April 2022.

History and objects

Incorporated on 25 January 2017, the foundation was registered with the Charity Commission for England and Wales as a discretionary grant-making trust. Its objects were broad, allowing trustees to support a wide range of charitable causes in the UK and internationally. In practice, grants focused heavily on Jewish education and community infrastructure, Holocaust remembrance, and high-profile medical and cultural projects.

Grants and beneficiaries

As a private grant-making trust, the foundation did not publish a full public grants list. However, major known beneficiaries uncovered during the Charity Commission inquiry included:

• King Edward VII's Hospital, London – At least £9 million pledged in 2018 toward the construction of a new outpatient centre named in honour of the Kantor family.

• The Prince’s Foundation – £3 million pledged (paid in instalments) to the educational charity established by the then Prince of Wales (now King Charles III).

The foundation also supported broader Jewish communal and cultural causes aligned with Moshe Kantor’s wider philanthropy, including projects connected to Holocaust education and Jewish institutions in the UK and internationally.

Sanctions and dissolution

Following the UK government’s designation of Moshe Kantor as a “designated person” under Russia sanctions in April 2022, the Charity Commission for England and Wales launched a statutory inquiry into the foundation. Kantor Trustees Ltd (the sole corporate trustee) became inoperable, all other directors resigned, and bank accounts were frozen.

In June 2023 the Commission concluded that the foundation was no longer viable. It was wound up and formally dissolved. After settling liabilities, approximately £1.388 million was redistributed by Interim Managers to other registered charities in line with the original charitable objects. The foundation was removed from the Register of Charities in May 2025.