Austrian SC approves Ukrainian oligarch’s US extradition

VIENNA: Austria´s Supreme Court on Tuesday approved the extradition of Ukrainian oligarch Dmytro Firtash to the US, the latest twist in a long-running saga which has become a headache for Vienna.

Firtash, one of Ukraine´s richest men, is wanted in the US on charges that he paid bribes to officials in India to secure titanium mining licences in 2006. The 54-year-old denies all wrongdoing and accuses the US of pursuing politically motivated charges against him because of his links to Moscow.

The Austrian government will now have to take the final decision in the case. The court rejected a request by the procurator general´s office to block the extradition and upheld a 2017 ruling from a Vienna appeals court which found there was sufficient proof of a case to answer against Firtash. Firtash was arrested in Vienna in 2014 on a US warrant. He had to pay bail of 125 million euros ($130 million) and has since not been able to leave the country.