The Vienna Higher Regional Court (Wiener Oberlandesgericht, OLG) on Friday decided to review the case on the extradition of Dmytro Firtash to the United States and return the case to the trial court for consideration.

"The decision of the District Court of Vienna of February 2017 (on the extradition of Firtash) has been reversed. Now, the Vienna Regional Court (OG) for Criminal Cases will reconsider the issue of the admissibility of extradition based on new evidence," the court said in a press release.

Group DF, which consolidates the assets of the Ukrainian businessman, also said in a statement that the court of lower instance will consider the case, taking into account new evidence and facts provided by the parties, and Firtash's extradition has now been stopped.

According to the lawyer of the Ukrainian businessman, Dieter Böhmdorfer, who is cited in the report, the defense has been seeking this decision since June 2019.

"Dmytro Firtash is grateful to the independent Austrian judiciary for an objective consideration of the case and, quite logically, for the appointment of a retrial based on new facts and evidence presented to the court," the lawyer said.

The press service of Group DF and lawyers do not comment on the details of the court battles and the arguments that convinced the Austrian court to make an objective decision, Group DF said.

As reported, the board chairman of the Group DF group, Firtash, was arrested in Austria on March 12, 2014, at the request of the U.S. authorities, issued in 2013, but then released on bail of EUR 125 million. During the administration of Barack Obama, the Ukrainian businessman was accused of using bribes totaling $18.5 million, he wanted to obtain permits for the extraction of titanium raw materials in India for the subsequent sale of finished products in the United States to Boeing. Firtash denies all accusations and calls them politically motivated, aimed at limiting his influence on the processes in Ukraine.

In April 2015, OG denied the U.S. Justice Department's request to extradite Firtash, arguing that political motives for the extradition request could not be ruled out. However, in February 2017, the OLG reversed this decision following a complaint from the prosecutor's office, and in June 2019, the Austrian Supreme Court (OGH) upheld the legality of the extradition.

After that, the Austrian Ministry of Justice adopted a relevant extradition order, but the process was suspended in July 2019 due to a request from the defense of the Ukrainian businessman in OG for a new consideration, taking into account additional data collected. According to Kurier, OG's decision was delayed due to a large number of submitted documents, communication problems due to the coronavirus, and due to a change in judges.

In March 2022, Firtash's lawyers announced that they had filed an appeal with OLG against OG's decision to reject a motion to re-examine the businessman's extradition case to the United States.