Austria made an unexpected statement about the extradition of Firtash to the USA

According to the newspaper, the decision was made after consultation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Austria, taking into account the interests and international obligations of the country.

It is reported that Firtash has not yet been sent to the United States. The decision to postpone the extradition is related to the request of the businessman’s lawyers, who asked the Land Court of Vienna to reconsider his case. The decision on expulsion will not be executed until the court rejects the defense lawsuit, writes Deutsche Welle.

“The accused applied for the reopening of the case and filed numerous documents. According to the Austrian procedural code, permission can be given to reopen the case, which was done. Given the array of information and new evidence that has been added to the case, it will take some time to evaluate the reopening request. However, the court's decision may again be subject to appeal. So even after the judges make a decision in the reopened case, I don’t think it will be concluded,” said court speaker Christina Salzborn.

When asked how long the whole process could take, she replied: “I think the consideration of the case will last longer than the fall. “It all depends on the timing of the reopening process.”

On June 25, the Austrian Supreme Court approved the extradition of Dmitry Firtash to the United States. Austrian authorities detained a businessman back in 2014 year at the request of the United States. There he is accused of bribing Indian officials. According to the investigation, the entrepreneur thus planned to obtain licenses for the extraction of titanium-containing raw materials.

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The oligarch’s defense insists that the United States does not have jurisdiction over crimes in India. However, in June, a federal judge in Chicago refused to drop the charges against Firtash, since titanium supplies could hurt the interests of the city-based Boeing company.

According to Bloomberg, in the 2008 year, Dmitry Firtash invested in the business of Paul Manafort, who was convicted in March, including for illegally lobbying the interests of the former President of Ukraine, Viktor Yanukovych.

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The businessman is called one of the key financiers of the presidential campaign of Yanukovych, with him he maintained close contacts until his flight to Russia. In Ukraine, Firtash was accused of causing damage to the state in the amount of 5,742 billion hryvnia ($ 217 million), in Spain he is suspected of money laundering.

The Ukrainian magazine Focus estimates Firtash's wealth at $800 million. According to the publication, he is one of the ten richest residents of the country.

As ForumDaily wrote earlier:

• US Department of Justice 2017 accused Ukrainian oligarch Dmitry Firtash of XNUMX in ties with the Russian mafia. The 115-page judicial document states that Dmitry Firtash and his associate Hungarian Andrash Knopp are high-ranking members of Russian organized crime and tried to organize an international titanium racket.
• In 2014, Firtash was arrested by the Austrian authorities, but was released on bail of $ 174 million.
• In the US, he is accused of trying to get permission to mine titanium in India using bribes totaling $ 18,5 million, as well as using American accounts and servers in transferring bribes to Indian officials. Prosecutors also noted that the case against the oligarch concerns bribery of foreign officials, “what Congress considers a threat to world security.”
• Titanium sponge should be supplied to Boeing, headquartered in Chicago. Firtash’s profits from this transaction should have been $ 500 million. For all the US accusations against Firtash, 50 faces years in prison and confiscation of all property.
• Firtash's business was linked to the ex-head of the campaign headquarters of US President Donald Trump Paul Manafort. It turns out that in 2008, Firtash was going to rebuild a hotel in New York with Manafort. It was about demolishing in 2007, the famous Drake Hotel in Manhattan. The project of building a new hotel in its place was estimated at $ 850 million. Firtash’s company was about to invest $ 100 million in the project. However, this transaction did not take place. Paul Manafort himself, in a commentary on NBC, said that he “never had a business relationship” with Firtash.
• We note that in Ukraine, Firtash is suspected of embezzling 2,6 billion hryvnia from the National Bank of Ukraine and the bankrupt Nadra bank.
• In 2013, Firtash's fortune was estimated at $ 3,327 billion. He was the owner of the Ukrainian television channel Inter, holding company Group DF, 45% RosUkrEnergo, Cherkassy-based Azot. He also has assets in the chemical industry and energy infrastructure. In addition to Ukraine, the businessman owns companies in Austria, Hungary, Germany, Italy, Cyprus, Tajikistan, Switzerland, Estonia.
• 25 June Austrian Supreme Court allows extradition odious Ukrainian oligarch Dmitry Firtash in the United States.