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Ukrainian oligarch Dmytro Firtash arrives at courtroom in Vienna, Austria, February 21, 2017. REUTERS/Heinz-Peter Bader
KYIV, June 18 (Reuters) – Ukraine imposed sanctions on tycoon Dmytro Firtash on Friday for promoting titanium merchandise that allegedly find yourself being utilized by Russian army enterprises.
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s safety and defence council mentioned the precise nature of the sanctions could be introduced individually in a presidential decree.
A spokesman for Firtash was not instantly obtainable for remark.
Firtash rose to develop into a rich and influential businessman in Ukraine however has been indicted in america on bribery and racketeering costs. He denies wrongdoing and has fought extradition from Vienna.
Relations between Ukraine and Russia collapsed after Russia’s annexation of the Crimea peninsula in 2014 and assist for separatist forces within the japanese Donbass area in a battle that Kyiv says has killed 14,000 folks.
Firtash was being sanctioned for “his involvement within the titanium enterprise,” the safety council secretary Oleksiy Danilov advised a briefing.
“There’s a provide of uncooked supplies after which … it goes to the army enterprises of the Russian Federation and we can not enable this to proceed,” he mentioned, with out offering specifics.
Zelenskiy has promised motion to scale back the affect of oligarchs on Ukraine.
In February he imposed sanctions on Viktor Medvedchuk, a Ukrainian businessman and politician with shut ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin, a transfer that the Kremlin referred to as “alarming”.
The manufacturing of titanium merchandise is a core enterprise in Firtash’s Group DF and it consists of titanium mining and enrichment, the manufacturing of titanium dioxide, titanium slag, sponge ingots and slabs.
Austria’s Supreme Courtroom dominated in June 2019 that Firtash might be extradited to america however he stays within the nation as his attorneys have filed a request for a retrial that has not but been dominated on.
A remaining resolution to extradite Firtash can solely be taken by the justice minister as soon as the case has run its course.
Firtash is a former supporter of Ukraine’s ousted pro-Russian president Viktor Yanukovich and made a fortune promoting Russian gasoline to the Kyiv authorities.
Firtash has additionally been represented by Joe diGenova and Victoria Toensing, who’re associates of Rudy Giuliani. read more
The council additionally introduced sanctions towards businessman Pavel Fuks, who didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark. Fuks advised the Ukraine 24 channel that the sanctions towards him have been groundless and he would take authorized motion.
Reporting by Pavel Polityuk in Kyiv; extra reporting by Ilya Zhegulev in Kyiv and Francois Murphy in Vienna; writing by Matthias Williams; Enhancing by Catherine Evans
Our Requirements: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
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