Ferrexpo has appealed A Ukraine court’s restriction on selling 50.3pc of its shareholding in Ferrexpo Poltava Mining (FPM).
According to a statement issued by Ferrexpo, the iron ore pellet producer’s Swiss unit is the sole shareholder in FPM, one of its London-listed mining subsidiaries, operating in Poltava, Ukraine.
The company considers the prevention of the transfer as a temporary restriction since its ownership of shares has not been affected.
Ferrexpo added that it did not intend to transfer its shareholding in FPM and was confident that the appeals process will be effective based on advice that the order does not have a proper or reasonable base per Ukrainian law.
The company believes that the court order is in connection to an ongoing investigation of Ferrexpo’s non-executive director, Kostyantin Zhevago, and his ties to a commercial bank he owned until 2015, according to the statement.
Zhevago was placed on an international wanted list for alleged embezzlement in connection with 2.5bn hryvnia ($104mn) missing from a now bankrupt lender he owned previously, the state prosecutor’s office said on Dec 3, 2019.
US$1 = 24.93 Ukrainian Hryvnia (as on January 31, 2020)