The Vienna Higher Regional Court refused to accept an appeal against the decision to deny the extradition of Ukrainian oligarch Dmytro Firtash to the United States. This brought to an end a 12-year legal saga related to the case.
On March 13, 2026, Ekonomichna Pravda reported this, citing the Austrian publication Kurier.
As noted, the Vienna prosecutor’s office was late in filing an appeal against the earlier court decision. Because the procedural deadline was missed, the court refused to consider the complaint. The prosecution asked to restore the missed deadline, but the court rejected that request. Under Austrian law, such a decision is not subject to further appeal, so it will likely become final in the case.
The proceedings have been ongoing since March 2014, when Firtash was detained in Austria at the request of U.S. investigators. He was then released on bail of €125 million, after which he spent years challenging a possible extradition to the United States. U.S. prosecutors suspected the businessman of conspiracy to pay $18.5 million in bribes to Indian officials to gain access to a titanium project worth about $500 million. If convicted, he faced up to 50 years in prison and asset forfeiture.
In June 2023, an Austrian court already refused his extradition. One reason cited was Firtash’s diplomatic status in Belarus, where he was officially an adviser to the country’s permanent representation to international organizations in Vienna.
Firtash became widely known after creating the gas intermediary “Rosukrenergo”, which operated between Russia and Ukraine, and also because of public conflicts with former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko. At the same time, sanctions have been imposed on the businessman: Ukraine introduced restrictions in 2021 over the supply of titanium to Russian weapons manufacturers, and the United Kingdom imposed sanctions in 2024.
Recall that Dmytro Firtash owns the Mykolaiv port “Nika-Tera,” whose operations have been blocked due to the Russian invasion and which has been shelled and significantly damaged by the occupiers.
Earlier we wrote:
- “Nika-Tera” without an “owner”? Zelensky extended sanctions on Firtash
- Court chess: Dmytro Firtash beat the US in a 10-year survival game
- The United Kingdom imposed sanctions on Nika-Tera owner Firtash
- The owner of the port “Nika-Tera,” oligarch Firtash, “poses” as a Belarusian diplomat and cannot be extradited to the US
- A court in Vienna refused to extradite the owner of “Nika-Tera,” Firtash, to the US
