Dmitry Vasilyevich Firtash is a businessman, investor, billionaire, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Group DF.
Place of Birth, Education
He was born on May 2, 1965 in the village of Synkiv, Ternopil region.
In the period from 1982 to 1984, he was educated at the vocational school No. 119 in the city of Lyman, Donetsk region.
According to Firtash, he also completed his studies at the Donetsk Railway Technical School with a degree in locomotive driver. At the same time, in fact, an institution with this name did not exist. Instead, a branch of the Kharkiv Institute of Railway Engineers worked in Donetsk.
Career
In the period from 1984 to 1986, he served in the ranks of the Soviet army: first in the Odessa region, and later in the Khmelnytsky region. He completed his service with the rank of senior sergeant.
According to media reports, after demobilization, he worked as a machinist, and later he was engaged in growing tomatoes and breeding arctic foxes.
In 1989, he was a driver of the fire department at the Chernivtsi shoe factory. At the same time, he was engaged in small trade. Later, he joined the sale of a large batch of milk powder to Uzbekistan. He was also engaged in the trade in vegetable products, which eventually grew into a small own production. He headed the private enterprise “KMIL”.
In 1992 – 1993, he organized a business related to the sale of vodka.
In 1996, he took his family to Germany, but continued to do business in Chernivtsi. By the end of the 1990s, he founded the transport company MDF Transspeditions (Marina & Dmitriy Firtash Transspeditions) in Berlin.
According to Firtash, he also worked in Moscow in the 1990s.
Energy business
In the spring of 2000, KMIL received a license to supply natural gas to Ukraine at an unregulated tariff. Soon after, Firtash began cooperation with the Russian gas trader Itera. Since that time, he has been actively working in the energy sector.
During 2002, the entrepreneur gained control over Eural TG, which had exclusive contracts for the supply of gas from Turkmenistan to Ukraine.
In 2003, he became:
- the owner of the chemical plant “Nitrofert”;
- the founder of Emfesz, created for the development of gas and energy directions;
- shareholder of OJSC “Rivneazot”.
In 2004, he founded the company RosUkrEnergo, which was engaged in the resale of natural gas and acted as an intermediary in the supply of gas to Ukraine and the European Union.
In the same year, he acquired the Austrian company for the construction of gas pipelines – Zangas Hoch und Tiefbau GmbH. He also became the main shareholder of the Crimean Soda Plant and the Crimean Titanium.
In 2007, he created Group DF (The Firtash Group of Companies), which included part of his assets in the chemical industry. Later, other companies joined the group, in particular from the media sphere.
In 2008, together with his wife, he founded the Firtash Foundation.
In 2011, he became the majority shareholder of Nadra Bank, which was declared insolvent in 2015.
Since 2012, it has begun to actively expand its presence in the Ukrainian retail gas market, buying out state-owned stakes in regional gas companies. At the same time, regional gas companies received state gas distribution networks for rent free of charge.
In addition, during a certain period gained control of the production chain in the titanium industry.
In 2021, Ukrainian law enforcement agencies announced the exposure of a scheme according to which the Ministry of Energy transferred gas distribution systems for free use to private operators. As part of this case, since May 2022, gas distribution companies associated with Firtash began to be transferred to the management of ARMA, and later to Naftogaz.
Political Activities
In 2002,he would have run for the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine from the Women for the Future party. At that time, the party won 2.11% of the votes and did not get into parliament.
In early 2012, according to the decree of the then President Viktor Yanukovych, he took the post of chairman of the National Tripartite Social and Economic Council. The body was supposed to develop and submit to the president proposals related to socio-economic policy.
Criminal Cases
In the summer of 1995, Firtash was arrested on suspicion of smuggling a large batch of alcohol, but was later released.
In 2014, the businessman was arrested in Austria at the request of the US Federal Bureau of Investigation. At that time, Austrian law enforcement officers reported that Firtash had been wanted since 2006 and was accused of bribery and creating a criminal group.
Shortly after his arrest, he was released on bail and a recognizance not to leave Austria. In 2015, the Vienna Court rejected the request for his extradition to the United States, but in 2019 the Austrian Supreme Court allowed the procedure. At the same time, the defense filed an appeal, and therefore the extradition did not take place. The trial in this case is ongoing.
In 2021, the National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) imposed sanctions against Firtash. It was stated that the raw materials produced by his enterprises were supplied to the defense enterprises of the Russian Federation (RF).
In 2023, Ukrainian law enforcement agencies announced suspicion of him in the case of theft of fuel from the gas transportation system of Ukraine. We are talking about the misappropriation of property through abuse of office and laundering of property obtained by criminal means.
Assets
As of 2023, Forbes estimated Firtash’s fortune at $180 million.
Today, Group DF includes, in particular:
- Ostchem nitrogen fertilizer production holding (Cherkasy Azot, Rivneazot, the destroyed Severodonetsk Azot Association and others);
- Zaporizhzhya Titanium and Magnesium Plant;
- Motronivsky and Mezhyrichensky mining and processing plants;
- Mykolaiv port “Nika-Tera”;
- Inter Media Group (TV channels “Inter”, “NTN”, “Pixel”, information agency “Ukrainian News” and others).
Marital Status
His first wife was Lyudmila Grabovetska. Later, he was married to his business partner Marina Kalinovskaya. The current wife is Lada Firtash.
He has three children: daughter Ivanna from his first marriage, as well as daughter Anna and son Dmytro from his third.
