The Jewish community of Ufa, Russia, welcomed a high-level state dignitary to its nearly-completed Jewish Community Center this week with the visit of Murtaza Rakhimov, president of the predominantly Muslim republic of Bashkortostan.

Chabad-Lubavitch Rabbi Dan Krichevsky, the city's chief rabbi, accompanied the president on the tour of the T-shaped structure, which boasts more than 6,000 square meters of usable space.

The Rohr Family Foundation led by Sami and George Rohr, the Ohr Avner Foundation headed by Federation of Jewish Communities president Lev Leviev, and the Keren Keshet Foundation provided most of the financing of the 230 million ruble project, which features tinted glass and a façade of white and black granite bearing the six-pointed Star of David. The building will house a synagogue with enough capacity for 250 people, a conference hall, library, Holocaust museum, mikvah, gymnasium, sports hall and a kosher dining room.

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Jewish officials and local politicians eagerly awaited the new center's construction. The city's synagogue, which was nationalized by Soviet authorities in the 1930s, has yet to be returned to the community; today, it houses the republic's philharmonic orchestra. The new Jewish Community Center, on the other hand, will unite all of Ufa's Jewish activities – including the city's Ohr Avner Chabad Kindergarten and Day School – under one roof.

At the end of his tour, Rakhimov congratulated the community.

"Everyone is thrilled that such a beautiful Jewish Community Center has been built in this predominantly Muslim Republic," said Krichevsky.