Austrian court approves extradition of Ukrainian tycoon Dmytro Firtash

An Austrian court on Tuesday approved a US request to extradite a Ukrainian billionaire with ties to an associate of Donald Trump to face trial on bribery charges, in a move that could test the White House's relationship with Russia. 

The court in Vienna said Dmytro Firtash, a former ally of deposed Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych who is also seen as close to the Kremlin,  must be sent to face the charges in Chicago, overturning a previous ruling that had rejected the extradition request as politically motivated. 

"The (appeal against the previous decision) has been granted," the judge told the court.

 "This does not mean that somebody is being pre-judged as guilty, but rather that it will be decided in another country whether they are guilty or innocent,” he added. 

Mr Firtash was indicted in Chicago by a U.S. grand jury in 2012 for allegedly using U.S. banks to pay off Indian officials in a failed attempt to secure titanium mining rights there.

He was arrested in Vienna in March 2014, and has been living there ever since after posting a bail bond of 125 million Euros (£106 billion). 

An Austrian judge rejected the initial extradition request, saying it appeared to be a US effort to remove an ally of Mr Yanovych, who had been overthrown in a revolution the previous month, from Ukrainian politics. 

Dieter Boehmdorfer, Mr Firtash’s lawyer, reiterated that argument on Tuesday. 

The judge disagreed, saying Mr Firtash would receive a fair trial in the United States. 

Austria’s justice minister has final approval on the extradition.

Mr Firtash, who denies the charges, is one of the richest men in Ukraine and has been linked to the Kremlin, and, indirectly, Donald Trump. 

In 2008 he and Paul Manafort, the political consultant who briefly served as chair of Mr Trump’s electoral campaign, were partners in an $895 million deal to buy and redevelop a Manhattan hotel. The deal later fell apart. 

Mr Manafort at the time was working as a consultant and lobbyist for Mr Yanukovych, who was putting together his ultimately successful campaign for Ukraine’s 2010 presidential election.  

Mr Manafort was forced to resign as Mr Trump’s campaign manager amid allegations that he helped Mr Yanukovych's Party of the Regions secretly move $2.2 million to two major Washington lobbying firms.