Firtash Dmitry Vasilievich is considered the most influential oligarch of Ukraine. The chemical king, the titanium tycoon, the gas baron - as soon as he is not called! The success of his business is to be at the right time in the right place.
Childhood and youth
The future Ukrainian billionaire was born in a small village in the Ternopil region in 1965. His father worked for many years as a driver, and having gained a lot of experience, he began to share it with students of a driving school. My mother had two diplomas: a veterinarian and an economist, she worked as an accountant in a factory. In 1984, Dmitry graduated from a railway vocational school in Krasny Liman and went on a draft to the army. After the service, he worked as a firefighter in Chernivtsi, and in the late 80s he became an entrepreneur.
Businessman
Dmitry Vasilyevich achieved the main successes in his biography over the past decade and a half. And the entrepreneur began his activity, like many, with trade, first in Chernivtsi, then in Moscow. Traded in sugar, juice, canned goods, once 4 tons of dried milk were exchanged for Uzbek wool. The first big deal brought the budding businessman 250 thousand dollars. In order to have a theoretical base for his activities, he received a law degree.
In the early 90s, a businessman invested in the chemical industry. An important acquisition was the assets of the Tajik-Azot plant, the Central Asian leader in the production of mineral fertilizers. A year later, Firtash invested in the Nitrofert Estonian ammonia plant. The proximity of the enterprise to the Baltic Sea opened up a wide opportunity for trade with neighboring countries. At the same time, Dmitry Firtash became the largest shareholder in the West Ukrainian Rivneazot OJSC, Crimean Titan and a number of chemical plants in the Donetsk region.
Gas tycoon
Dmitry Firtash considers the energy business to be the main focus of his career. In 1993, important metropolitan acquaintances allowed him to begin the barter trade of Ukrainian food products in exchange for Turkmen gas. A few years later, the company "Eural TransGas" was created, which officially concluded exclusive contracts for these purposes. The businessman received licenses to sell natural gas to Hungary and Poland. Together with Gazprom, the Ukrainian will organize the company RosUkrEnergo, which supplied blue fuel to Ukraine and the European Union. It lasted 10 years, and during this time the businessman acquired an Austrian company engaged in the construction of gas pipelines. Wanting to conquer the domestic gas market, Firtash privatized the state-owned package of gas distribution networks.
Successful businessman
For consolidation and competent asset management in various fields, in 2007 the Group DF group of companies was created. The effective work of the organization brings the businessman a consistently high income. It unites the entire production chain from the moment of extraction of raw materials to the production of final products. Today, enterprises in 11 European countries are involved in it, which is over 100 thousand people. The financial condition of Dmitry Firtash is estimated at three billion dollars, he is one of the five richest Ukrainians.
Firtash tried himself in the banking sector as the main shareholder of Nadra Bank. An important economic investment of the businessman was the launch of the Mezhdurechensk Combine, which brought the country to the leading suppliers of titanium products. Recently, Dmitry Vasilievich made investments in the medical field and acquired several leading television channels in Ukraine.
The Council of Ukrainian employers elected Firtash as its chairman. I must say that now this organization is the basis of the state economy and unites almost 5 million people.
Politics and scandals
Dmitry Firtash is non-partisan. Only once did he participate in parliamentary elections and was defeated. But his activities are often credited with a political connotation. So at the time of the political crisis, he sponsored the Ukrainian opposition and Euromaidan.
In 2014, a businessman was detained in his office in the Austrian capital on charges of a bribe by the FBI in exchange for obtaining a permit to develop Indian deposits. Then, for his release, a record-high pledge was made - 125 million euros. The second arrest took place three years later, but, like the first time, the businessman was released. The issue of his extradition was refused. At the same time, 46 tycoon real estate properties were closed, he was accused of concealing taxes on millions of Ukrainian hryvnias.
