OLIGARCH WATCH: HAS FUGITIVE FIRTASH CO-OPTED AUSTRIA’S LEADERS TO BLOCK US?
Oleksiy Sorokin, KyivPost
Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz used a private jet linked to fugitive oligarch Dmytro Firtash to travel from a high-profile meeting in Tel-Aviv. The young Austrian chancellor isn’t the first Austrian politician caught in bed with the Kremlin-linked oligarch, who is fighting off a U.S. extradition warrant. The U. S. has charged Firtash with bribery and racketeering.
According to Austrian news website ZackZack, Firtash lives in a Vienna villa owned by Alexander Schutz, a major donor to Kurz’s governing Austrian People’s Party. The website also writes that the party’s former leader, Michael Spindelegger, who is also Austria’s ex-vice chancellor, is employed by the oligarch’s Agency for the Modernization of Ukraine, which exists only on paper. Firtash’s connections to the top echelons of Austrian politics aren’t surprising.
The oligarch made his fortune on mingling with political heavyweights. Firtash, who was described by the U. S. Department of Justice as an “upper-echelon (associate) of Russian organized crime,” made a fortune on reselling Russian gas to Ukraine at inflated prices. He soon expanded his reach under President Viktor Yanukovych, becoming Ukraine’s main fertilizer producer and energy distributor.
Private Flight
Kurz’s travel caught the eye of Austrian investigative journalists when he used an unconventional method to travel home from Tel Aviv. On March 4, Kurz tagged along with Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen for a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to discuss COVID-19 vaccination. On the same day, Kurz took a private jet home. According to ZackZack, the jet belongs to Avcon Jet AG, which operates at least 19 private planes. After dropping Kurz off in Vienna, the OE-IRK plane traveled to Kyiv. Although Firtash isn’t allowed to leave Austria, he has regularly paid for “aviation services.”
According to ZackZack, Firtash’s PR manager Daniel Kapp said that the aircraft used by Austrian Chancellor Kurz is owned by “a company that can belong to Firtash but is operated autonomously by a third party.”
Kurz’s office told ZackZack that the plane was booked for the chancellor, which is a “standard process,” adding that “who owns the aircraft is beyond our knowledge and of no relevance.”
Toxic Oligarch
Firtash’s rise to power was intertwined with political intrigue. Now, residing in Austria, he sticks to the strategy that brought him billions. Firtash first entered the spotlight in 2006 when it was revealed that the low-profile businessman stood behind 45 percent of a gas supply company called RosUkrEnergo which was the sole gas intermediary between Central Asia, Russia, Ukraine and Europe. The other 50 percent was owned by the Russia’s state-owned Gazprom. At some points, the Swiss-registered RosUkrEnergo made as much as $2.5 billion per year.
Firtash’s rise has been attributed to his ties to Semion Mogilevich, an infamous Kyiv-born organized crime boss, who was for several years one of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s 10 most wanted fugitives. Firtash denies ties to Mogilevich. Russia sold gas to Ukraine through RosUkrEnergo for five years, earning Firtash billions of dollars. After RosUkrEnergo was sidelined in 2009, Firtash was already a well-established Ukrainian oligarch.
In 2010, he sided with pro-Kremlin President Yanukovych and became one of the most influential people in the country. Firtash’s Group DF accumulated vast assets in chemical production, banking and gas distribution. He also bought Inter Media Group, owning the biggest TV viewership share at that time.
Today, Firtash has enormous influence in Ukraine, even from exile. He has a gas distribution monopoly in Ukraine and his companies owe the state at least $2 billion for natural gas, allegations that Group DF dismisses as rumors.
Firtash controls a substantial part of the titanium market and has vast chemical plant holdings. He also remains on good terms with pro Kremlin politicians in Ukraine, having business ties with Serhiy Lyovochkin, co-leader of the 44-member Opposition Platform — For Life faction. Lyovochkin co-owns Inter Media Group.
Recently, Ukraine began to fight back. In 2019, the Anti-Monopoly Committee of Ukraine ordered a break-up of Firtash’s monopoly in the nitrogen fertilizer sector. In December, the Anti-Monopoly Committee fined Firtash’s regional gas distribution companies Hr 380 million ($14 million) for abusing their monopoly position.
US Charges
Ukraine isn’t the only country poisoned by Firtash’s schemes. In June 2013, Firtash was charged by a Chicago grand jury with giving $18.5 million in bribes to Indian government officials to receive titanium mining licenses with the aim of selling the extracted minerals to Boeing. The indictment was made public in April 2014. Firtash has not been able to leave Vienna since he was arrested in his mansion at the request of the FBI in March 2014. However, Firtash was able to stall the pending extradition.
In June 2019, Firtash lost his extradition appeal in Austria’s Supreme Court. He was subject to be transferred to the U.S. after Austria’s justice minister approved his extradition. Yet on the same day, Firtash’s defense filed a motion for a retrial, citing new evidence. Meanwhile, Firtash is making important connections in his new hometown of Vienna.
Firtash’s high-caliber legal team employs Austrian former Justice Minister Dieter Bohmdorfer, while his PR manager Kapp used to work as a spokesperson for another former Austrian People’s Party leader — Josef Pröll — who also served as Austria’s vice chancellor.
