Thread by @karolcummins

Ukraine’s National Police have arrested alleged mafia boss Yevhen Anisimov, who has been wanted for six years on numerous charges mainly related to extorting money from businesses in the Zaporizhzhya region located in the southeastern part of the country. rferl.org/a/ukraine-arre…

When Firtash needed someone to pay his bail—which the Austrians set at $155 million, the highest in the nation’s history—the oligarch Vasily Anisimov, a member of Putin’s inner circle, supplied the cash.

theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/…

The only producer of titanium sponge in Ukraine and Europe is located in Zaporizhzhya, the provincial capital of 750,000 people located some 550 kilometers southeast from Kyiv.
kyivpost.com/business/firta…

In 2013, under the era of corrupt President Yanukovych, a Firtash ally, the state-owned Zaporizhzhya combine was privatized & became a limited liability company. Firtash’s business empire — enlarged during the reign of Yanukovych — remains largely intact.
kyivpost.com/business/firta…

Firtash’s plant in Zaporizhzhya returned to state ownership. The Zaporizhzhya region business court has returned the assets of the Zaporizhzhya titanium-magnesium mill to state ownership.

ukraine.com/forums/forum/s…

(SAPO) made the case against Tolexis Trading Ltd, an offshore company allegedly controlled by Dmytro Firtash, because of alleged embezzlement of funds meant for modernization and their removal via offshore companies.

ukraine.com/forums/forum/s…

Since Firtash’s arrest he has received another loan in order to pay his bail: $155 million from Vasily Anisimov, the billionaire who heads the Russian Judo Federation, the governing body in Russia of Putin's beloved sport.
reuters.com/article/russia…

"I have known Mr. Firtash for a number of years, though he is neither my friend nor business partner," Anisimov told Reuters in an email. "I confirm that I loaned 125 million euros to him. This was a purely business transaction."
reuters.com/article/russia…

Anisimov is on the Treasury Department’s 2018 so-called “Putin List” of oligarchs who found good fortune under Vladimir Putin’s leadership, as CNN notes. When he bailed out Firtash, it raised eyebrows. But Firtash said it was just business.

thedailybeast.com/indicted-oliga…