Inna Sikolovskaya/EUROPEAN PRESSPHOTO AGENCY - Ukrainian oligarch Dmytro Firtash, seen here in 2011, was arrested in Vienna on Wednesday on charges of bribery and criminal conspiracy stemming from an FBI investigation.
MOSCOW — A Ukrainian oligarch with deep and lucrative ties to Russia’s state-owned energy monopoly has been arrested in Vienna at the request of the FBI, according to Austrian press accounts, in what could be the beginning of a U.S. effort to inflict financial pain on Russia over its role in the Ukrainian crisis.
Dmytro Firtash acted as Russia’s very well-paid agent, buying natural gas cheap and selling it to Ukraine’s national gas company at a steep markup. Yulia Tymoshenko, the former Ukrainian prime minister, accused him of kicking back a large portion of the proceeds, effectively creating an offshore slush fund for Gazprom — which is the primary pillar of the political-financial structure built by Russian President Vladimir
Putin.
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