In a news broadcast this week, leading German TV channel ARD reported that Dmytro Firtash, an influential Ukrainian billionaire close to President Viktor Yanukovych’s inner circle, has made big strides in his “goal” of taking out revenge against former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, who was arrested this month on contempt of court charges.
According to the report on ARD’s Tagesschau news program, understanding the conflicts at play during the 2009 natural gas dispute is crucial to getting a clear picture of what interests could stand behind Tymoshenko’s arrest and criminal charges by prosecutors against her.
Back in 2009,Tymoshenko as prime minister removed gas trading intermediary RosUkrEnergo from the lucrative role as a supply of Russian and Central Asian gas to Ukraine, the report noted pointing out that Firtash is a co-owner of this company.
“Firtash swore to take the revenge and he seems to have reached his goal with the help of Yanukovych,” the German language report claims.
“Over the last year of Yanukovych’s tenure as President of Ukraine, one could witness an unprecedented wave of arrests of former government representatives, from the Interior Minister to the deputy Defense Minister,” the report added.
Firtash’s press service declined to comment on the report.
ARD is one of the leading television channels in Germany. Click here to read and watch ARD’s full German language report.
Click here to read this story in Russian on www.kyivpost.ua.
