The Austrian court refused to extradite Ukrainian businessman Dmytro Firtash to the USA. There, he is accused of corruption schemes related to bribes for titanium mining in India.
This was reported by Vienna AT.
The court made this decision on November 7, but announced it on December 4. The Prosecutorʼs Office of Vienna plans to file an appeal against this decision by December 16.
The US suspects Firtash of paying $18.5 million in bribes to Indian officials to obtain permission to develop titanium deposits in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. Firtash planned to sell the finished products to the American company Boeing, and the annual profit from this could be almost $500 million. Firtash denies all the charges.
Dmytro Firtash was detained in Austria in March 2014 at the request of American investigators, but was released on bail of €125 million. Since then, he has appealed his extradition to the United States, where he faces up to 50 years in prison and the confiscation of all assets.
- On November 21, 2024, the British government imposed sanctions against Firtash, defining his actions as corruption.
- And in June 2024, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky signed a decree extending sanctions against Ukrainian businessman Dmytro Firtash and a number of Russian oligarchs for 10 years.
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