Thread by @karolcummins

‼️Firtash Gas Distribution

Seventy percent of Ukraine’s regional gas distribution companies are owned by Firtash.

TeamTrump is working hard to enhance Mogilevich/Firtash/Putin’s control of gas distribution throughout Europe & Asia. 💰

MAIN THREAD

kyivpost.com/ukraine-politi…

Firtash - RosUkrEnergo
Background

https://twitter.com/karolcummins/status/1180870472403050496?s=21

🔑Firtash owns a wide range of key Ukrainian assets, including most importantly about 70 percent of the country's gas distribution.

rferl.org/a/dmytro-firta…

‼️GAS PIPELINES

🔑Gas has long been an explosive issue between Russia and Ukraine.

🔑Moscow is a key supplier of gas to the European Union, accounting for about a third of the region’s imports, about half of which flows through Ukrainian pipes.
csis.org/analysis/russi…

🔑Ukraine is also a major market for Russian gas, and arguments over how much it should pay have prompted RU to turn off the taps, disrupting supplies to the rest of Europe.

🔑Putin’s ability to turn on & off the flow of gas to EU is a huge NatSec issue.

reuters.com/article/us-eu-…

🔑Control of Ukraine would give Russia secure access to the former Soviet satellite's pipeline network and the European market.

nbcnews.com/storyline/ukra…

💰Rick Perry & the Sale & Transportation of US LNG (liquid natural gas) to Ukraine

https://twitter.com/karolcummins/status/1180657343316414464?s=21

Putin once described the collapse of the Soviet Union as the “greatest geopolitical catastrophe"of the 20c.

Why he wants to establish a Eurasian Union:

A powerful economic & political bloc made up of fmr Soviet states with RU at the center.

EEC vs EU

news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/4480745.s…

‼️Giuliani Putin Glazyev

https://twitter.com/karolcummins/status/1177698474545963013?s=21

Rick Perry & the Sale & Transportation of US LNG (liquid natural gas) to Ukraine

https://twitter.com/karolcummins/status/1180657343316414464?s=21

‼️Firtash’s Political influence:

He is widely considered to have many people in Kyiv's halls of power beholden to him despite being under house arrest in Austria since 2014.

This is the flip the scrip narrative TeamTrump is trying to pin on Joe Biden.

rferl.org/a/dmytro-firta…

🔑These networks were created under the presidency of Viktor Yanukovych (Manafort), who was overthrown by the EuroMaidan Revolution in 2014.

🔑Today they collectively owe Naftogaz $2.2 billion for unpaid gas supplies.

kyivpost.com/ukraine-politi…

🔑In addition, Firtash and others have the advantage of selling subsidized gas to households through opaque arrangements, creating even more debt for Naftogaz. #RuMob

kyivpost.com/ukraine-politi…

🔑The Firtash story demonstrates how Putin uses Russian state assets to create streams of cash for political allies, and how he exported this model to Ukraine in an attempt to dominate his neighbor, which he sees as VITAL TO RUSSIA’s STRATEGIC INTERESTS.

reuters.com/article/russia…

8/1/18: Dmytro Firtash may pocket about $1 billion through a new change to the gas transportation system code (GTS Code).

🔑This change in the code will award a giant windfall to an oligarch w/ ties to the Kremlin. #Firtash

atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/ukrainea…

🔑Firtash influenced politicians to change the code.

🔑Under the new code, Firtash’s Regional Gas Company will collect the tariffs & won’t likely pass any of the money onto Ukrtransgaz. Annually, tariff incomes amount to 5 billion UAH (nearly $130M).

atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/ukrainea…

🔑This means at least 5 billion UAH less will go to the state-owned company, which is the country’s biggest taxpayer.

🔑Worse yet, it likely means a giant windfall of cash for the fugitive in Vienna. #Firtash

atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/ukrainea…

🔑The new code also introduces the principle of network neutrality, which will hurt consumers who pay their bills. If someone does not pay for service, Ukrtransgaz will have to cover losses by billing all transmission service customers with extra charges.

atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/ukrainea…

Finally, the new code changes one more small but important detail. Under current rules, if a company took more gas from the gas transportation system than was assigned to it by the system operator & didn’t pay for the overage, this is considered a crime.

atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/ukrainea…

📌But the new code will consider extra consumption a “balancing service,” and bill it to Naftogaz.

atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/ukrainea…

12/6/18: NAFTOGAZ UKRAINY ACCUSES FIRTASH COMPANIES OF THEFT

naturalgasworld.com/naftogaz-ukrai…

🔑3/19/19: Three regional gas companies belonging to exiled oligarch Dmytro Firtash are currently being investigated for allegedly inflating gas prices in their regions, according to a statement by state-owned oil and gas monopoly Naftogaz on March 1

kyivpost.com/ukraine-politi…

‼️Firtash v VTB

1/16/19: Cypriot court seizes property of Ukrainian oligarch Firtash over VTB Bank's claim

Read more on UNIAN: unian.info/m/economics/10…

🔑1/17/19: The lawsuit concerns the debts of PJSC Ukrainian Chemical Products and LLC Titan Investments, which own factories in Russia-occupied Crimea.

🔑According to Kommersant, Firtash is the beneficial owner of both companies.

uawire.org/cypriot-court-…

In April 2015, VTB Bank issued Ukrainian Chemical Products and Titan Investments a loan, but the companies stopped making repayments in February 2016, and so VTB began the litigation.

uawire.org/cypriot-court-…

The lawsuit against Firtash and “a number of persons and companies connected to him” to recover losses caused by “the respondents’ fraudulent actions” meant the arrest of $45,7 million in movable and immovable property.

uawire.org/cypriot-court-…

The plaintiffs asked for interim measures to be used on the billionaire’s property and the companies Group DF Holdings Ltd., Letan Investments Ltd., and Tolexis International Ltd.

🔑The first is Firtash’s parent company which manages all of his assets.

uawire.org/cypriot-court-…

‼️Titanium

During the previous US administration, Firtash was accused of using $18.5 million in bribes in an attempt to secure permission to mine titanium raw materials in India, which would then be sold to the US as finished products.

uawire.org/cypriot-court-…

Firtash denied all the allegations, claiming that they were politically motivated and designed to restrict his political influence on processes in Ukraine.

Sound familiar? PBO persecuted Firtash just for political reasons.🙄

uawire.org/cypriot-court-…

Firtash Boeing Titananium

Dmytro Firtash

https://twitter.com/karolcummins/status/1142603256616480768?s=21

6/21/19 ORDER

drive.google.com/file/d/1yWzybT…

‼️Firtash & Mogilevich

https://twitter.com/karolcummins/status/1142649621178511360?s=21

2010
WikiLeaks cables link Russian mafia boss to EU gas supplies

Semyon Mogilevich, one of FBI's most wanted people, identified as real power behind billionaire owner of Ukrainian-based RUE

theguardian.com/world/2010/dec…

‼️The BidenOp and how it relates to TeamTrump’s Firtash get out of Extradition Scheme

https://twitter.com/karolcummins/status/1180881312548147200?s=21

Kurt Volker, the US special envoy for UKR, told a US Senate hearing in June that it was "essential" for Ukraine to "break free" of the oligarch system.

📌He recommended Kyiv push through legislation to break up their holdings to reduce their influence.

rferl.org/a/dmytro-firta…

📌Last year, Republican Senator Roger Wicker wrote a letter to then-U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions, singling out Firtash as a particular threat to Ukraine.

rferl.org/a/dmytro-firta…

Five Stories About How Putin, Organized Crime and Oligarchs Tried to Destroy Naftogaz and Ukraine

H/T @ThomasS4217

biz.nv.ua/naftogaz-vs-ga…

We will learn more about TeamTrump’s LNG contract with Ukraine & how it benefits Mogilevich, Firtash & Putin strategic and financial interests & how it endangers the EU, UKN & our Collectove NatSec.

I am sure TeamTrump benefits financiall as well.

@threadreaderapp unroll pls

Trump’s hard sell of American LNG
H/T @lelandchase5
houstonchronicle.com/business/energ…