Austria finally refuses to extradite Dmitry Firtash to the United States
11 December 10:12
Austria has finally refused to extradite Ukrainian businessman Dmytro Firtash to the United States. The Higher Land Court in Vienna reported that it had rejected the prosecutor’s appeal on formal grounds the day before. Thus, the decision of the Land Criminal Court of November 2024, which refused extradition due to immunity under international law, came into force, "Komersant Ukrainian" reports citing DW.
The Higher Land Court justified its decision by stating that the deadline for the prosecutor’s office to file an appeal had already passed.
The US had demanded Firtash’s extradition on charges of violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. The United States accuses him of bribing Indian government officials to obtain permission to develop titanium deposits in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. The businessman denied his guilt, claiming that the criminal case against him was politically motivated.
In 2014, the oligarch was arrested in Austria at the request of the US Department of Justice, which is seeking his extradition, but was later released on bail of €125 million. In the United States, he faces up to 50 years in prison and full confiscation of his property.
Western analysts and Ukrainian officials have repeatedly pointed out that Dmitry Firtash was one of the most influential industrialists in Ukraine due to his ties to Russian dictator Vladimir Putin. In the 2000s, he was a key figure in the parastatal gas trader RosUkrEnergo, which controlled the supply of Russian gas to Ukraine and Europe. According to Reuters, Firtash played the role of a Kremlin-friendly intermediary, for which he received more than 20 billion cubic meters of gas at a reduced price and more than $11 billion in loans from Gazprombank.
