Thread by @The_War_Economy

Let's take some time out to talk about Dmitry Firtash, a Ukrainian oligarch.

Dmitry Firtash has been mentioned in the news recently, as he shares an attorney, Lanny Davis, who acts as Firtash's co-counsel, with Michael Cohen.

thedailybeast.com/michael-cohen-…

Some minor information about Lanny Davis's connections to the Podesta brothers and the Clinton Foundation can be found here:

https://twitter.com/The_War_Economy/status/1022025911678513152

On March 12, 2014, Dmiry Firtash was arrested by Ausria's Federal Crime Agency on behalf of the Federal Bureau of Investigation on suspicion of violating laws of bribery and forming a criminal organisation while trying to get some foreign business deals.

reuters.com/article/us-ukr…

Firtash's arrest was a ripple from the fall of Viktor Yanukovych and was in connection to an investment project in 2006 through his company, Group DF.

reuters.com/article/russia…

It does not look as if the Group DF website has been updated since Firtash's arrest in 2014.

However, Firtash was released on bail after his bail was paid by the end of March 2014 - a total of 125 million Euros ($172 million).

groupdf.com/en/o-kompanii-…

rferl.org/a/ukraine-firt…

In 2013, Group DF gained a controlling stake in Inter Media Group, which held control over INTER, K1, K2, NTN, Mega, Enter Film, Zoom and Pixel, while also investing in Zaporizhzhia Titanium and Magnesium Combine.

groupdf.com/en/o-kompanii-…

The management of Zaporizhzhia Titanium and Magnesium Combine includes Vladimir Sivak, Vladimir Korolkov, Igor Sizikov, Taras Redko, Yury Shket, Ludmila Vasilega, Igor Matveev and Konstantin Skochko.

ztmc.zp.ua/en/company/man…

Group DF itself was founded in 2007 by Firtash to help manage his assets, which had been growing from 1988 onward in Ukraine and Russia, and 1993 onward across Central Asia.

groupdf.com/en/o-kompanii-…

In 2004, Firtash and Gazprom worked together to set up a joint venture known as RosUkrEnergo, while Firtash also became a shareholder in Crimea TITAN and the Crimean Soda Plant. Firtash also founded the OSTCHEM holding company.

groupdf.com/en/o-kompanii-…

RosUkrEnergo was liquidated by Gazprom, starting in 2014 and finishing in 2016.

economics.unian.info/1415672-gazpro…

In an article written on December 1, 2010 by Luke Harding for The Guardian - which later received a legal complaint from lawyers acting on behalf of Firtash - Harding claimed that WikiLeaks showed a connection between Semyon Mogilevich and RosUkrEnergo.

theguardian.com/world/2010/dec…

Semyon / Semion Mogilevich is listed as one of the Ten Most Waned Fugitives for his participation in defrauding thousands of inventors of a company incorporated in Canada but located in Newtown, Pennsylvania.

fbi.gov/wanted/topten/…

RosUkrEnergo was used as an intermediary for the Ukraine to import gas from Russia into Ukraine, after a deal was successfully cut in January 2006. While he board was kept hidden at the time, one member of the board was Wolfgang Putschek.

nytimes.com/2006/02/01/bus…

OSTCHEM is listed as a part of Group DF, owned by Firtash.

ostchem.com/en/o-kompanii/…

Dmitry / Dmitriy Firtash, alongside Lada Firtash, also founded the Firtash Foundation. The Firtash Foundation was created in 2012, although its efforts began in 2008 after a financial contribution from Cambridge University.

firtashfoundation.com/en/about/

Group DF was once ran by Robert Shetler-Jones, who was the CEO from 2007 to 2012 and once paid £35,000.00 to the Harlow constituency of Robert Halfon, MP.

independent.co.uk/news/uk/politi…

Robert Shetler-Jones has a profile on the official Group DF website, although it is not ordinarily accessible. He founded BPI in Kyiv, Ukraine, worked in real estate at Dniprovska Prystan and founded Scythian Limited.

groupdf.com/en/o-kompanii-…

One of Firtash's allies is Raymond Asquith, who in December 2014 was a former spy and a British noble, holding the title the Earl of Oxford and being a member of the House of Lords.

wsj.com/articles/ukrai…

Raymond Asquith was personally responsible for extraditing Oleg Gordievsky, a KGB colonel who defected to the West, in 1985, as Gordievsky had worked as an MI6 informant for 3 years. Asquith worked at the British Embassy in Moscow from 1983 to 1985.

dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3…

Firtash also had connections with John Whittingdale, the Chair of the Culture, Media and Sport Committee from July 14, 2005 to May 11, 2015, as Whittingdale was on the organising committee for Days of Ukraine and director of the British Ukrainian Society.

independent.co.uk/news/uk/politi…

Firtash has funded the British Ukrainian Society.

independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/…

The British Ukrainian Society's Chairman is Lord Risby.

The Advisory Board includes Earl of Oxford, Anthony Fisher, Ihor Mitiukov, Roman Shpek, Sergiy Kruglyk, Alexander Orlov, Terry Sandell and Baroness Smith of Gilmorehill.

britishukrainiansociety.org/leadership

The Executive Board of the British Ukrainian Society features Megan Hodges, Artem Braichenko and Anton Shustenko.

britishukrainiansociety.org/leadership

Days of Ukraine, meanwhile, is a cultural festival hosted by the Firtash Foundation in the United Kingdom, sponsored by Group DF.

The article also mentions that Group DF's Managing Director in December 2014 was Boris Krasnyansky.

firtashfoundation.com/en/news/firtas…

In another secret page on Group DF's website, Boris Krasnyansky's profile is listed, with his background including PwC, IFD Kapital and being on the board of directors for the American Chamber of Commerce in Ukraine.

groupdf.com/en/o-kompanii-…

On September 11, 2014, Boris Krasnyansky attended Victor Pinchuk's Yalta European Strategy Conference, with other attendees including Chrystia Freeland, Pinchuk, Elena Pinchuk, Viktor Yushchenko and Rinat Akhmetov's "guy", Jock Mendoza Wilson.

kyivpost.com/article/opinio…

I'm going to stop there.