Austria will not give the United States Ukrainian oligarch Firtash – BBC Russian

• May 1, 2015

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Firtash did not hide satisfaction of the court decision, but said that the point in this case to put more early

Austrian court refused to extradite Ukrainian businessman Dmitry Firtash in the United States, where he is accused of corruption.

49-year-old entrepreneur is one of the richest and most influential people of Ukraine. He was arrested in Vienna at the beginning of last year at the request of US authorities, who were investigating his activities since 2006.

He was released on bail of 125 million euros (140 million dollars) in March 2014.

Firtash himself categorically denied his guilt.

Meanwhile, he told reporters Ukrainian oligarch, the prosecutor appealed the decision of the Land Criminal Court of Vienna.

“The case is still not closed,” – said Firtash told reporters.

Titan

The US accuses Firtash in the organization of international corruption scheme.

According to investigators, the suspects in this case – six people including Indian parliamentarians and businessmen from Hungary, India and Sri Lanka – have bribed Indian officials and politicians who were supposed to help with the issuance of licenses for production of titanium in the state of Andhra Pradesh.

The amount of bribes this transaction amounted to 18 million dollars, according to US investigators. Annual income from the project was estimated at $ 500 million.

The prosecution alleges that Firtash allegedly held talks with Indian officials and gave them the order to allocate funds.

Firtash says that his work with “Gazprom” was a legitimate

The US investigators said that the matter is in their jurisdiction because the suspects used to transfer funds for bribes, US financial institutions, as well as planning to sell titanium products unnamed company from Chicago.

The investigation of this case was conducted from Chicago FBI investigators, the case considered by the Court for the Northern District of Illinois.

The team Firtash said that the case against the businessman is politically motivated, as Washington believes that Firtash is Russian interests in Ukraine.

Firtash did business with the Russian gas giant “Gazprom”. One of the most memorable pages in the history of relations between Firtash with “Gazprom” is the “RosUkrEnergo” – intermediary company involved in the supply of Russian gas to Ukraine. Firtash owned a large stake in the joint venture.

Opponents accused the scheme “RosUkrEnergo” in the opacity, and at that time the head of the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU), Alexander Turchinov said that the company is controlled by Semyon Mogilevich is wanted FBI on the line for a variety of charges.