You're reading: Ukrainian businessman Firtash denies plans to go into politics

Simferopol - Ukrainian businessman Dmytro Firtash has said that he is not going to get involved in politics, which is why he has no desire to join the Party of Regions and stand for Verkhovna Rada.

"I can say unequivocally that I am definitely not going to do politics, and there is no need even to talk about it. I will not be running for deputy, this is not my business. (. . .) Nor shall I pour myself into any parties of regions because I do not do politics," he told journalists in Simferopol on Sunday after meeting with acting head of the Crimean government Pavlo Burlakov.

Business and politics are "two different things," he said.

It is not that I like or dislike any particular party, I simply do not want to do politics, the businessman added.

Firtash owns large chemical plants in Ukraine, Estonia and Tajikistan. The businessman invests in the financial sector and real estate.

His main assets are concentrated in the chemical sector. In Ukraine, in particular, he owns Azot (Cherkasy), Severodonetsk Azot Association, Concern Stirol (in Horlivka, Donetsk region) and Rivneazot.

Firtash’s other business interests include Crimea Titan (Armiansk, Crimea, 50% less one share), its subsidiaries Irshansk Mining and Processing Plant (Zhytomyr region) and Vilnohorskiy Mining and Metallurgical Plant (Dnipropetrovsk region); Crimean Soda Plant (KSZ, Krasnoperekopsk, Crimea), and Nadra Bank (Kyiv).

Outside Ukraine, the businessman owns two plants: Nitrofert in Estonia and TajikAzot in Tajikistan.