Dmytro Firtash

Dmytro Firtash (Ukrainian: Дмитро Васильович Фірташ; born May 2, 1965 in Syn'kiv, Ternopil Oblast^[1]) is a Ukrainian businessman and billionaire ($961 million^[2]).

Firtash first steps in business where in in the food industry in the early 1990s^[1][3] before moving into gas trading.^[3]

At the 2002 parliamentary elections Firtash was number 12 at the election list of Women for the Future.^[4]

Assets

Firtash is co-owner of RosUkrEnergo^[5] and controls much of Ukraine’s promising and lucrative titanium business.^[6] He gained control of previously state-owned titanium assets across Ukraine in 2004.^[6] He also owns a chemicals plant.^[2][7] In May 2011 Firtash took over Nadra Bank (at the time Ukraine's 11th largest bank), Nadra Bank had gone into default in 2009 but it had restructured its foreign debt with significant write-offs since.^[8]

Firtash was elected chairman of the Federation of Employers of Ukraine, a joint representative agency of employers at national level, on December 2, 2010.^[9]

Controversy

Firtash is a controversial figure in Ukraine.^[10] According to documents uncovered during the United States diplomatic cables leak Firtash told U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine William Taylor of needing permission from alleged Russian crime boss Semyon Mogilevich to do business in Ukraine during the lawless 1990s.^[11] Firtash also claimed to be friends with President Viktor Yushchenko.^[12] Firtash denied the remarks.^[11] Allegedly, Gazprom, a Russian natural-gas extraction company, had asked Mogilevich to oversee natural-gas deliveries from Russia to Ukraine via gas intermediary RosUkrEnergo. All parties deny connections with Mogilevich.^[11] Other cables said Firtash and Mogilevich were linked through ostensible offshore company vehicles either by joint ownership through former spouses or through Firtash heading companies in which Mogilevich’s former spouse was the shareholder.^[13] It was also suspected that Raiffeisen Bank, an Austrian-based bank, was a front to legitimize RosUkrEnergo.^[13]

On June 16, 2009, Yulia Tymoshenko accused fellow candidates in the 2010 Ukrainian presidential election, Viktor Yushchenko, Arseniy Yatseniuk and Viktor Yanukovych of having the same campaign headquarters financed by Firtash.^[14][15] On April 26, 2011 Tymoshenko suit Firtash and RosUkrEnergo in a U.S. District Court in Manhattan accusing them of "defrauding Ukraine's citizenry by manipulating an arbitration court ruling, "undermining the rule of law in Ukraine" in connection with an 2010 international arbitration court ruling in Stockholm that ordered Ukraine's state energy company Naftogaz to pay RosUkrEnergo 11 billion cubic meters (bcm) of natural-gas to compensate for fuel it had "expropriated" plus 1.1 billion bcm as a penalty.^[16][17]

Allegedly Firtash and Ukrainian energy minister Yuriy Boiko "are close associates".^{[18][19][20][21]}

Social activities

In 2008, the University of Cambridge was founded by Ukrainian program (Cambridge Ukrainian Studies). It's goal - promoting the study of Ukraine to the UK and abroad. During the 2008-2010 Ukrainian program operated in an experimental mode, and since 2010 - operates on an ongoing basis, thanks to donations from Dmitry Firtash in the amount of 4.3 million pounds.^[22]

In 2010, Firtash initiated the signing of a memorandum on strategic cooperation between the Group DF and NTU (KPI). In the framework of Group DF will facilitate the updating of teaching and research material resources of the University to accept students NTU "KPI" for passage of manufacturing practices, and to implement science and technology and innovation, developed in conjunction with the laboratories of the University.

In 2011, the University of Cambridge, with financial support from Dmitry Firtash, offers a master's program for students from Ukraine.^[23]

In 2011, Firtash made substantial donations to the Ukrainian Catholic University in Lviv.^[24] Patriarch Kirill awarded Firtash in October 2011.^[18]

References

1. ^ ^{a b} (Ukrainian) Справа Фірташа. Частина перша. Справи колгоспні, Ukrayinska Pravda (July 24, 2007)
2. ^ ^{a b} #10 Richest: Dmytro Firtash, 45, Kyiv Post (December 17, 2010)
3. ^ ^{a b} (Russian) Фирташ Дмитрий, Korrespondent (July 1, 2006.)
4. ^ "Womans for the Future" All-Ukrainian Political Union, Central Election Commission of Ukraine
5. ^ UNIAN - Nemtsov: Russian part in RosUkrEnergo looks as improper as Ukrainian one, UNIAN (March 17, 2008)
6. ^ ^{a b} Business Photo: New Boryspil terminal; Firtash's titanium plant, Kyiv Post (November 4, 2010)
7. ^ Group DF)
8. ^ Ukrainian tycoon Firtash takes over bank Nadra, Reuters (May 4, 2011)
9. ^ Firtash elected head of Federation of Employers of Ukraine, Kyiv Post (December 6, 2010)
10. ^ Firtash denies Mogilevich ties; won’t discuss cable, Kyiv Post (December 3, 2010)
11. ^ ^{a b c} Staff writer (3 December 2010). "WikiLeaks Reveals Sensitive U.S. Talks. — Firtash, Mogilevich Ties". Kyiv Post. Retrieved 14 December 2010.
12. ^ Pavel Korduban (9 December 2010). WikiLeaks Confirms Role Played by Firtash in Ukrainian Politics. Georgian Daily. Retrieved 14 December 2010.
13. ^ ^{a b} Rachkevych, Mark (3 December 2010). "U.S. Official: Austrian Bank's Ties to RosUkrEnergo Suspicious". Kyiv Post. Retrieved 14 December 2010.
14. ^ Tymoshenko: Yushchenko, Yatseniuk, and Yanukovych have one headquarters for three, UNIAN (June 16, 2009)
15. ^ Yuschenko and Yatseniuk are 'technical candidates' for Yanukovych, says Tymoshenko, Interfax-Ukraine (June 16, 2009)
16. ^ Ukrainian ex-PM sues gas company, businessman in US court, Reuters (April 27, 2011)
17. ^ Prisoner of independence, Novaya Gazeta (12 October 2011)
18. ^ ^{a b} Russian Patriarch prays for Yanukovych, honors Firtash and Boyko (updated), Kyiv Post (October 2, 2011)
19. ^ Energy Dependency, Politics and Corruption in the Former Soviet Union: Russia's Power, Oligarchs' Profits and Ukraine's Missing Energy Policy, 1995-2006 by Margarita M. Balmaceda, Routledge , 2007, ISBN 978-0-415-43779-0 (page 124)
20. ^ The Underbelly of Ukrainian Gas Dealings, Der Spiegel (30 December 2010)
21. ^ Naftohaz Ukrainy Management Change Indicates Turn to Russia, Georgian Daily (25 March 2010)
22. ^ More details at www.mml.cam.ac.uk & [www.CambridgeUkrainianStudies.org]
23. ^ http://www.cambridgetrusts.org/partners/dmitry-firtash.html
24. ^ http://www.kyivpost.com/news/nation/detail/104775/

External links

• Group DF - Firtash's holding company

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Name	Firtash, Dmytro
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Date of birth	May 2, 1965
Place of birth
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