Austria will not extradite Firtash to the United States
The Vienna Regional Criminal Court rejected the US Department of Justice's request to extradite Ukrainian businessman Dmitry Firtash, who is accused of paying a bribe in India to obtain a license to develop a titanium ore deposit.
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Judge Christoph Bauer admitted that the extradition request was filed for political reasons, and not based on the substance of the charges against the businessman.
Firtash also previously stated in court that he considers the case fabricated and the reasons for the US extradition request to be political. According to the businessman, the first request for his extradition was received in November 2013, but was withdrawn after the then President of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovych promised US Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland to sign an association agreement with the EU, release ex-Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko for treatment and give the American company Chevron the rights to develop gas fields in the Kharkov region.
The US needs Firtash for the same purpose as former Ukrainian Prime Minister Pavlo Lazarenko, a source told Vedomosti . His corrupt connections in Ukraine allowed him to control Ukrainian politicians. Furthermore, Firtash, who identified himself as a friend of Arkady Rotenberg in an interview with the Financial Times, knows a lot about contracts for Russian gas supplies to Ukraine and Eastern Europe.
Austria will not extradite Firtash to the US.