You're reading: Firtash denies Mogilevich ties; won’t discuss cable

Dmytro Firtash, the controversial Ukrainian billionaire gas trader and businessman, denied comments attributed to him by former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine William Taylor during a meeting between the two men on Dec. 8, 2008. Specifically, Firtash denied any business ties with alleged Russian crime boss Semyon Mogilevich.

A statement issued Dec. 2 on Firtash’ s behalf read:

“The briefingwith Ambassador Taylor was private and confidential and Mr. Firtashwishes to respect the privacy of that meeting. Furthermore, Mr Firtash is not going to respond to statements allegedly contained in documents that – by the admission of those promoting them – were stolen from the United States government, in violation of federal criminal law, by people who are themselves now fugitives.”

“Mr. Firtash provided the ambassador with a private and confidential briefing on a variety of issues and addressed questions the ambassador put to him. However, following the regrettable and unlawful publication of documents purporting to be the ambassador’s confidential notes of the meeting, Mr. Firtash feels obliged to clear up any subsequent mistranslation or misunderstanding of their meeting.”

“Mr. Firtash has never stated, to anyone, at any time, that he needed or received permission from Mr. Mogilevich to establish any of his businesses. Moreover, Mr. Firtash has stated many times, publicly, privately and on the record, that he knew Mr. Mogilevich, but has never had any partnership or other commercial association with him. Mr. Firtash has always maintained and repeats, once again, that Mr. Mogilevich has never had any holding or other direct or indirect interest in Eural Trans Gas, RosUkrEnergo or indeed any of Mr. Firtash;s other commercial or business interests.”

However, Taylor gave a different account.

The cable, published by WikiLeaks on Dec. 1, contains references to Firtash admitting that he did not only knows Mogilevich, but also “needed and received permission from Mogilevich when he established various businesses.”

Firtash, a co-owner of RosUkrEnergo, the gas intermediary that supplied imported gas to Ukraine between 2006 and 2008, downplayed his ties to Mogilevich by citing the lawless environment in Ukraine during the 1990s, according to Taylor. Firtash, Taylor wrote, said it was simply not possible to have a meeting with a Ukrainian government official without also meeting an organized crime figure, as the country was ruled by the “laws of the streets.”

Another WikiLeaks cable released on Nov. 29 by weekly magazine Russian Reporter on Nov. 29 also linked fugitive Mogilevich – who is on the FBI’s 10 Most Wanted List – and RosUkrEnergo.

“Independent analysis suggests that some members of the security services are allied with various organized crime structures or turn a blind eye to the activities of known criminals… For example, crime boss Sergei Shnaider (better known as Semyon Mogilevich) not only enjoyed freedom of movement in Russian and official protection, but he was brought in by Gazprom to managed gas sales to Ukraine through the shady RosUkrEnergo venture. Only when he lost his political cover, for reasons that are unclear… he was arrested in January 2008,” writes Eric Rubin, the U.S. deputy chief of mission in Moscow in an April 2008 memo addressed to FBI director Robert Mueller.

Taylor said Firtash identified himself as an ally of then President Viktor Yushchenko and a foe of ex-Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko. In his conversation with Taylor, Firtash allegedly called her an “accomplished oligarch who had made deals with Moscow that would leave Ukraine vulnerable in the future.”

Taylor also said Firtash presented himself as a political player who was trying to get Yushchenko and current President Viktor Yanukovych together, while trying to keep Yanukovych and Tymoshenko from forming an alliance.

Taylor writes with skepticism about Firtash, calling his aims “clearly self-interested”and trying to “portray a positive image of himself.”

Yet, for Zeev Gordon, a long-time lawyer for Mogilevich, explained Firtash’s remarks about “getting permission from Mogilevich to start various businesses” as a reference to the billionaire’s early steps in Ukrainian business, not the energy trade.

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Kyiv Post staff writer Vlad Lavrov can be reached at [email protected]