Mikhael Mirilashvili

Mikhael Mirilashvili (born 1960) is a Georgian-born Israeli-Russian businessman, philanthropist, and trained pediatrician whose career spans real estate development, high-technology investments, and energy projects across Russia, Israel, and beyond. Born in Kulashi, Georgia, to a Jewish family, he graduated from St. Petersburg Medical School in 1983 before transitioning into business amid the Soviet Union's collapse, building enterprises that include commercial real estate management and hi-tech firms.

Mirilashvili's notable business achievements encompass co-ownership of Watergen, a company producing atmospheric water generators deployed in over 80 countries for clean water extraction, alongside investments in urban agriculture via Vertical Field and antiviral technologies through Nanosono. Relocating to Israel in 2009, he expanded into offshore natural gas fields and renewable energy ventures, contributing to infrastructure and environmental solutions. His philanthropy emphasizes Jewish community support, including leadership as President of the Euro-Asian Jewish Congress, long-term presidency of Maccabi-Russia, and vice-presidencies in the World Jewish Congress and Russian Jewish Congress.

Mikhael Mirilashvili was born in May 1960 in Kulashi, a small town in the Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic renowned for its longstanding Jewish community. He was raised in a Jewish family steeped in traditions of philanthropy, where his grandfather exemplified generosity by aiding both Jewish and non-Jewish individuals in need, a legacy his grandmother upheld following the grandfather's death.

Kulashi's tight-knit Jewish milieu offered Mirilashvili relative insulation from the antisemitism prevalent elsewhere in the Soviet Union, though encounters with prejudice occurred and broader state policies suppressed religious expression and ethnic particularism, constraining Jewish cultural and educational pursuits. His family emphasized adherence to Jewish customs amid these pressures, fostering a sense of communal solidarity.

Mirilashvili later recounted the personal hardships he endured under Soviet rule, including systemic challenges faced by Jews, which influenced his resilience and worldview. These experiences unfolded against the backdrop of Georgia's relatively tolerant Jewish history within the USSR, yet marked by ideological conformity and limited opportunities for religious observance or advancement based on ethnicity. By age 17, in 1977, he departed Kulashi for Leningrad to pursue higher studies, transitioning from local roots to urban Soviet centers.