Dmitry Firtash
Dmitry Firtash was born on May 2, 1965 in the village of Sinkov (formerly Bogdanovka) of Zaleschitskiy district of Ternopol region of Ukrainian SSR.
Married, father of three children. Wife Lada Firtash is a Director of DF Foundation and the Chairwoman of the Board of Investment and Development Projects. His daughters are Ivanna (b. 1988) and Anna (b. 2005), son Dmitriy (b. 2007).
Business activity
Dmitry Firtash started doing business almost immediately after his return from the army. He set up his own business in trade, first in Chernivtsi, then in the early 1990s he left for Moscow.
In 1993 the businessman established trade relations with the Central Asian region and organized food supplies in exchange for natural gas.
In 2002, Firtash set up the EuralTransGas company, which signed exclusive contracts for Turkmen gas supplies to Ukraine.
At the same time Dmitry Firtash began investing in the chemical industry by acquiring Nitrofert (Estonia) and Tajik Azot (Tajikistan), which produced mineral fertilizers.
In 2003 in Hungary Dmitry Firtash founded Emfesz to develop the gas and energy business. Two years later it received a license to sell natural gas to Poland.
In the same year Dmitry Firtash became a shareholder in Rivneazot, a major producer of nitrogen fertilizers in western Ukraine. Due to large-scale modernization, it is now the most energy efficient enterprise among Ukrainian producers of nitrogen fertilizers.
In 2004, the Ukrainian businessman set up RosUkrEnergo together with the Russian Gazprom to sell natural gas in Ukraine and the European Union. Due to the work of "RosUkrEnergo" Ukraine received natural gas at a favorable price until 2009.
Also, in 2004, Firtash bought Austrian company Zangas Hoch- und Tiefbau GmbH that specialized in construction of gas pipelines and infrastructure.
In the same year Dmitry Firtash became the main investor of the "Crimean soda plant" (Krasnoperekopsk) and "Crimean TITAN" (Armyansk).
In 2007, for the purpose of consolidation of assets in different spheres of business there was founded Group DF ('The Firtash Group of Companies'), a private international group of companies. Currently Group DF unites assets in the spheres of chemical industry, energy and real estate. The process of consolidation of assets continues.
In 2010, in order to strengthen the position of Ukraine in the global fertilizer market, Dmitry Firtash began the process of consolidation of Ukrainian nitrogen companies. Between September 2010 and March 2011, the businessman became the owner of Concern Stirol (Horlivka), PrJSC "Severodonetsk Azot Association" and Cherkassy-based Azot. Within just one year, the joint marketing strategy of four nitrogen fertilizer producers, owned by Dmytro Firtash, enabled these Ukrainian enterprises to gain a stronger foothold in the domestic market, having squeezed out foreign suppliers. The total investment in Rivneazot, Stirol, Severodonetsk and Cherkassy Azot over the period from September 2010 to September 2011 amounted to about UAH 1 bln.
The businessman is also actively developing titanium enterprises. To double titanium dioxide output at Crimea TITAN, Dmitry Firtash is making large-scale investments into the company and has already completed construction of a new sulfuric acid shop. To expand the raw material base of the Ukrainian titanium industry Dmitry Firtash's Group DF launched Mezhdurechenskiy mining and processing plant in 2010.
In July 2011, Dmitry Firtash became a shareholder of Nadra Bank.
Over the past 15 years Dmitry Firtash has become one of the leading investors in the energy, chemical and titanium industries in Central and Eastern Europe. His enterprises and companies operate in Ukraine, Austria, Hungary, Germany, Italy, Cyprus, Tajikistan, Switzerland and Estonia.
