CRIMINAL CAPITALI$M

Owner of Ukrainian iron ore miner Ferrexpo arrested in France for money laundering and embezzlement

By CALUM MUIRHEAD FOR THE DAILY MAIL
PUBLISHED: 29 December 2022

The owner of Ukrainian iron ore miner Ferrexpo has been arrested in France and faces allegations of money laundering and embezzlement.

Billionaire Kostyantyn Zhevago, 48, who controls 50.3 per cent of the FTSE 250 firm, was detained on Tuesday in the ski resort of Courchevel at the request of Ukraine.

Previously a member of the Ukrainian parliament, he was one of the first businessmen from the country to list a company in London, and is wanted in connection to the disappearance of around £94million from his lender Finance & Credit Bank, which failed in 2015.


Arrest: Billionaire Kostyantyn Zhevago, 48, who owns Ukrainian iron ore miner Ferrexpo, was detained on Tuesday in the ski resort of Courchevel at the request of Ukraine

Zhevago is due to appear before a court next Thursday, where a magistrate will rule on an extradition request made by the Ukrainian authorities.

The country’s State Bureau of Investigation said officials had seized dozens of properties connected to Zhevago, including 10 apartments and 14 complexes.

Ferrexpo said that Zhevago would leave the board immediately following his arrest, although it stressed the tycoon’s troubles were connected to matters unrelated to the company.

Despite this, its shares dropped 3 per cent, or 5p, to 159.5p.

Once dubbed Europe’s ‘youngest self-made billionaire’, Zhevago was previously chief executive of Ferrexpo but stepped aside in 2019 after Ukraine launched an investigation into Finance & Credit Bank and called him in as a suspect.

A court in Ukraine issued an arrest warrant for him that year after investigators claimed he violated ‘the interests of the state and the bank’s depositors’. Interpol put out an international warrant on him two years later.

A probe discovered millions of dollars had been siphoned out of the bank and transferred to foreign companies controlled by Zhevago. He denies wrongdoing.

The arrest is another headache for Ferrexpo, which has seen its iron ore production severely disrupted by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as railways, ports and power supplies have been interrupted by missile strikes.

It is expecting to produce around 6m tons of iron ore pellets this year, down from 11.2m in 2021.

The conflict has also weighed heavily on the share price, which has dropped 45 per cent this year amid growing concerns that its operations could be knocked out by military action.