A third potential investor in El Al Airlines joined the competition and requested a permit to purchase a controlling stake in the company, Globes reported on Tuesday.

Russian-Israeli businessman David Sapir is following in the footsteps of Eli Rozenberg, son of New York-based businessman Kenny Rosenberg, and Meir Gurvitz, a controlling shareholder in Arazim Investment Ltd. and son-in-law of famed singer Mordechai Ben-David, who splits his time between Israel and New York.

Sapir, 61, owns telecommunications and tourism companies. According to the Globes report, Sapir does not own businesses in Israel and is not well-known in the country but has maintained a home in Israel since 2018 where he frequently stays and describes himself as a Zionist.

Sapir was born David Sapiashvilli in Georgia in 1959. In the 1980s he began attending St. Petersburg University where he eventually acquired a Ph.D. in economics. He started his business career in tourism during the perestroika era and following the collapse of the Soviet Union, he acquired the telecom company Giprosvyaz.

In light of the current three potential offers to acquire El Al, Israel’s Government Companies Authority has called on the Finance Ministry to reconsider its bailout plan for El Al, including the public offering of $150 million on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE) by the end of August.

Government Companies Authority head Yaakov Kvint informed Finance Ministry Director-General KerenTurner in writing that he will not have sufficient time to examine the credentials of the three potential investors by August 31.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)