Dmytro Firtash

Dmytro Firtash
Дмитро́ Фі́рташ
Born
Dmytro Vasylovych Firtash

(1965-05-02) 2 May 1965 (age 59)
Bohdanivka, Zalishchyky Raion, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union
NationalityUkrainian
OccupationBusinessman
Websitedmitryfirtash.com

Dmytro Vasylovych Firtash (Ukrainian: Дмитро́ Васи́льович Фі́рташ; born 2 May 1965) is a Ukrainian businessman who heads the board of directors of Group DF.[1] He was highly influential during the Yushchenko administration[2] and the Yanukovych administration.[3] As a middleman for the Russian natural gas giant Gazprom and with connections to the Kremlin, Firtash funneled money into the campaigns of pro-Russian politicians in Ukraine.[4] Firtash obtained his position with the agreement of Russian president Vladimir Putin and, according to Firtash, Russian organized crime boss Semion Mogilevich.[5][6]

His many roles during the Yushchenko administration included: presidency[7] of the Federation of Employers of Ukraine (FEU), an interest association of industrial enterprises that he chairs;[2] chairmanship[8] of the National Tripartite Social and Economic Council (NTSEC); co-chairmanship[9] of Domestic and Foreign Investors Advisory Council under the Ministry of Education, Science, Youth and Sports of Ukraine; and membership[10] in the Committee for Economic Reforms under the President of Ukraine.

The United States Justice Department has characterized Firtash as an "upper-echelon [associate] of Russian organized crime."[11] He was arrested by Austrian authorities in March 2014 and has since been in Vienna fighting extradition to the United States, where he is under federal indictment for an alleged bribery scheme.[12] American attorneys Joe diGenova and Victoria Toensing, associates of then-president Donald Trump and his personal attorney Rudy Giuliani, were hired by Firtash in July 2019 to fight his extradition, as Giuliani sought information in Ukraine to damage Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden.[13][14][15]

  1. ^ "Group DF". Group DF. Archived from the original on 2 April 2019. Retrieved 2 April 2019.
  2. ^ a b Leshchenko, Sergii (25 September 2015). "The Firtash octopus". www.eurozine.com. Archived from the original on 2 April 2019. Retrieved 2 April 2019.
  3. ^ "Caught between Russia and the US? The curious case of Ukraine's Dmytro Firtash". The Guardian. 23 January 2016. Archived from the original on 3 November 2019.
  4. ^ Myers, Steven Lee; Kramer, Andrew (31 July 2016). "How Paul Manafort Wielded Power in Ukraine Before Advising Donald Trump". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 3 November 2019. Retrieved 7 November 2016.
  5. ^ Shuster, Simon (15 October 2019). "Exclusive: How a Ukrainian Oligarch Wanted by U.S. Authorities Helped Giuliani Attack Biden". Time.
  6. ^ Grey, Stephen; Bergin, Tom; Musaieva, Sevgil; Anin, Roman (26 November 2014). Woods, Richard; Williams, Michael (eds.). "SPECIAL REPORT-Putin's allies channelled billions to Ukraine oligarch". Reuters.
  7. ^ "Site of the Federation of Employers of Ukraine". fru.org.ua. 21 March 2014. Archived from the original on 12 August 2013. Retrieved 30 May 2014.
  8. ^ "The National Tripartite Social and Economic Council". ntser.gov.ua. Archived from the original on 2 December 2020. Retrieved 30 May 2014.
  9. ^ "The Ministry of Education, Science, Youth and Sports of Ukraine". Archived from the original on 29 May 2013. Retrieved 2 April 2019.
  10. ^ "The Committee for Economic Reforms under the President of Ukraine". kontrakty.ua. Retrieved 30 May 2014.
  11. ^ Winter, Tom (25 January 2020). "Who is Dmytro Firtash? The man linked to $1 million loan to Giuliani ally has a shadowy past". NBC News.
  12. ^ "DOJ: Ex-Manafort associate is top-tier comrade of Russian mobsters". NBC News. Archived from the original on 25 November 2020. Retrieved 19 November 2020.
  13. ^ Baker, Stephanie (18 October 2019). "To Win Giuliani's Help, Oligarch's Allies Pursued Biden Dirt". Bloomberg News.
  14. ^ Becker, Jo (25 November 2019). "Why Giuliani Singled Out 2 Ukrainian Oligarchs to Help Look for Dirt". The New York Times.
  15. ^ Protess, Ben (12 February 2021). "Trump Justice Department sought to block search of Giuliani records". The New York Times. via San Juan Daily Star.