Ferrexpo majority shareholder Zhevago to resign from board

MOSCOW. Dec 30 (Interfax) - Konstantin Zhevago, majority shareholder and non-executive director of Ferrexpo, will resign from the iron ore miner's board of directors, Ukrainian media reported, quoting a company filing.

It emerged on December 28 that Zhevago had been arrested at the Courchevel ski resort in the French Alps with a view to extraditing him to Ukraine. A French court issued the extradition order on December 29.

"The Board has been informed that Mr Zhevago is prepared to step down from the Board of Ferrexpo plc immediately. The Board is taking steps to document his resignation formally and will update the market as appropriate," Ferrexpo said in a stock exchange filing.

"Following yesterday's media reports, the Board of Directors of Ferrexpo has met regularly, considered Mr Zhevago's position as a Director of the Company, received advice from its external advisers, and been in contact with Mr Zhevago's representatives and family members, to seek to clarify his current situation," according to the filing, which is dated December 29.

The Ukrainian State Bureau of Investigation said that as part of the investigation of the criminal proceedings, Zhevago, a former shareholder of Finance and Credit Bank, was notified of suspicion of committing criminal offenses under various articled of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. A number of top managers of the bank are also under suspicion.

According to London Stock Exchange data, immediately after the news broke, Ferrexpo's shares plummeted 4.4 pence to 168.5 pence, closing Thursday at 159.5 pence or 7.8% lower than before the news about Zhevago's arrest.

Over the past year, Ferrexpo's share price has fallen even further to 96 pence amid news of a halt in production due to power supply problems, and due to the general global situation in the iron ore market.

Share prices reacted mutedly to news in the middle of November about searches at the company's enterprises in Poltava region on charges of understating the royalty for subsoil use by UAH 10 billion, remaining at the level of about 142-143 pence.

However, in general, the value of Ferrexpo fell by 46.9% over the year, including 33.5% since February.

The National Bank of Ukraine in September 2015 classified Finance and Credit Bank as insolvent, and in December of the same year revoked its license. The claims of creditors are as UAH 30 billion.

Zhevago was estimated to be worth $2.1 billion in March 2021.