Ukrainian billionaire Dmytro Firtash was arrested on March 12 in Austria on a U.S. arrest warrant issued by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Interior Ministry of Austria stated.
Firtash, 48, a chemicals and energy tycoon and one of the richest men in Ukraine, was just one of the suspects arrested. The arrest happened on March 12 in Vienna’s Margareten district. The seizure happened openly and without incident in the street, in the immediate vicinity of the suspect’s business premises, Austrian News Agency reported.
Two top assistants to Firtash, Robert Shetler-Jones and Group DF CEO Borys Krasnyansky, could not be immediately reached for comment.
According to Mario Hejk, a spokesperson for the Federal Criminal Police Office (BK), BK officers from the organised crime office and EKO Cobra (Austria’s primary counter-terrorism special operations tactical unit) were involved in the operation. With regard to the suspect, Hejl noted that the FBI has been investigating the 48-year-old man for years and the arrest has nothing to do with the current political turmoil in Ukraine. The businessman was arrested at the request of the FBI on suspicion of involvement in the creation of an organized criminal group. He has been under investigation by the FBI since 2006.
“As a result of the FBI’s years’ long investigation and warrant issued by a U.S. district court, Vienna’s district attorney issued a nationwide arrest order against the businessman,” Hejl said. Firtash had bodyguards with him but the arrest occurred without incident.
Ukraine’s Interior Ministry didn’t issue any warrant for Firtash’s arrest, according to Interfax-Ukraine. Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry confirmed his arrest on the afternoon of March 13.
Firtash figured prominently in WikiLeaks, the secret U.S. State Department cables that were leaked in 2010.
In a Dec. 8, 2008, meeting, then-U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine William Taylor allegedly wrote that gas-trading mogul Firtash told of needing permission from alleged Russian crime boss Semyon Mogilevich to do business in Ukraine during the lawless 1990s. Firtash denied the remarks.
Mogilevich remains on the FBI’s 10 most wanted list of fugitives and is believed to be hiding in Moscow.
Dmytro Firtash’s fortune is estimated at $2.3 billion. His Group DF
controls chemical producers Ostchem and Krymsky Tytan, number of regional energy supplying
capacities, banks Nadra and Pravex, one of the country’s leading television
stations Inter, Ukrainian News information agency and several minor media
outlets. Critics say he has acquired assets in questionable privatization
auctions.
Besides, Firtash has business ties with Serhiy Lyovochkin, the chief of staff in
former President Viktor Yanukovych’s administration.
Timothy Ash, an analyst with Standard Bank in London, called Firtash’s arrest an “absolutely seismic development on so many different levels. Firtash is probably in the top two of Ukrainian oligarchs in terms of wealth/influence across borders. Historically he had close ties to Russia via the energy sector, and perhaps even to (Russian President Vladimir) Putin.
“Firtash’s Ostchem energy company enjoyed a big gas discount from Gazprom even when Naftogas was still paying top dollar so had a very ‘special’ relationship. I think this sends a strong message to the FSU (Russia’s Federal Security Service) to oligarchs that no one is above the law, and the expectation is that if they are to do business in/with the West, they need to comply with some basic Western values,” Ash wrote. “I also think it sends a strong message to Russia that the West is willing to go down the financial sanctions route unless it backtracks over Crimea and over broader policy towards Ukraine. For Ukraine I think this sends the message that Western loans will come at a price of a broader clearing up of the business environment – and perhaps oligarchs will be expected to contribute to bailout cost ultimately. This could be Ukraine’s ‘Georgia moment,’ i.e. an opportunity for a one off cleansing of the business environment of graft – remarkably it worked in Georgia under very similar circumstances after the 2008 Russian invasion.”
This story is developing and the Kyiv Post will update as details unfold.
Here is Dmytro Firtash’s personal website
Here is the executive leadership of his GroupDF conglomerate
Here are links to the Kyiv Post’s past coverage about Firtash:
Firtash-linked company wins $2 billion from state
Firtash denies Mogilevich ties; won’t discuss cable
Taylor: Firtash touts Yushchenko as ‘close friend and confidante’
US official: Austrian bank’s ties to RosUkrEnergo suspicious; possibly ‘front to provide legitimacy’
Taylor: Firtash needed OK from Mogilevich to go into business
