Poltava Mining denies mining without permits
MOSCOW. July 3 (Interfax) - Poltava Mining, which is controlled by iron ore producer Ferrexpo, plans to present proof in court that its workers, who were accused by the State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) of mining minerals without permission and subsequently selling them, acted legally.
Ukrainian media reported Poltava Mining as saying in a statement that it has permission to mine mineral resources, specifically iron ore, and the raw material that investigators call "crushed rock" are fines, or production waste, so they are not a resource and do not require a separate mining permit.
The SBI notified three representatives of the company's senior management and the head of one of its divisions that it suspected alleged misappropriation of property, namely the unauthorized sale of raw materials obtained from waste as a result of processing mined mineral resources, the company said.
These circumstances were the subject of an inspection by the State Geological Survey of Ukraine. Poltava Mining said it fulfills all of this agency's requirements in order to comply with legislation on mineral resources.
The SBI released a press release earlier claiming that Poltava Mining executives misappropriated almost UAH400 million (about $11 million) from mining and selling national mineral resources without the relevant permits. Specifically, it alleged they sold crushed rock produced from the waste of mined mineral resources and channeled the cash proceeds through conversion centers and then distributed them among the participants in the criminal group.
Searches were conducted of the offices and homes of senior company executives, shell companies and businesses in the transit and conversion sector.
At the end of 2022, Poltava Mining was served with a claim of UAH4.727 billion on the disputed loan guarantees of Konstantin Zhevago's Finance & Credit Bank. Zhevago is the largest shareholder of Ferrexpo and Ukrainian law enforcement authorities have been seeking his extradition to the country in a case concerning the bank, but the businessman has won a lower court ruling on this case in France.
Ferrexpo plc, a producer of iron ore pellets with operations in Ukraine, wholly owns Poltava Mining and Yeristovo Mining, and owns 99.9% of Belanovo Mining.
The official exchange rate was UAH36.57/$1 on June 30.