Klitschko's political career destroyed: Firtash surrendered his puppet
Ukrainian gas oligarch Dmitry Firtash on Thursday at a court hearing in Vienna, where charges against him for money laundering were considered, revealed the secrets of Kyiv politics.
Subscribe to PolitNavigator-Kyiv news in Facebook, Classmates or In contact with
Firtash stated that since 2012 he had secretly supported Vitali Klitschko, allegedly having become disillusioned with Viktor Yanukovych and realizing that an alternative candidate was needed for the 2015 elections.
Firtash and his defense team argued that the persecution in the West was due to the fact that the oligarch interfered with US plans to bring Yulia Tymoshenko and Arseniy Yatsenyuk to power.
Firtash said that on the eve of the presidential elections last year he held a secret meeting with him and Petro Poroshenko, after which Klitschko withdrew his candidacy from the race. As a result, Poroshenko became president, Klitschko became mayor of Kyiv, and Tymoshenko lost.
This version fits current events, when it is Yatsenyuk’s Cabinet of Ministers that attacks Firtash’s Inter TV channel, and also threatens to confiscate the property of factories from the oligarch’s Ostchem group. At the same time, Firtash appeals to President Poroshenko for protection.
Firtash’s confessions in court could deal another serious blow to Klitschko’s rating, which has already weakened during his leadership of Kiev. The connection with the scandalous oligarch debunks the image of the “new generation politician” that Klitschko tried to exploit.
Let us note that in the political community the connection between Firtash and Klitschko was not a secret: for example, experts have long noted a large number of the oligarch’s people on the list of the UDAR party. However, for the general public - like Klitschko's voters (and Poroshenko too) - Firtash's words will certainly be an unpleasant discovery.
By the way, the Austrian judge believed Firtash’s words and refused to extradite him to the United States.
If you find an error, please select a piece of text and press Ctrl + Enter.
Thank you!
Now the editors are aware.