Ferrexpo plc (LSE: FXPO), a producer and exporter of high-quality iron ore pellets for the global steel industry, which controls the Poltava and Yeristov mining and processing plants in Ukraine, said it was aware that its non-executive director and majority shareholder Konstantin Zhevago was detained in France by the French authorities, however "the company understands that this is due to matters not related to Ferrexpo."
"Ferexpo's Board of Directors is trying to clarify the situation and will keep the market informed as necessary," reads press release of the company on Thursday.
As reported, at the request of the Ukrainian side, a Ukrainian businessman and former deputy of the Verkhovna Rada Konstantin Zhevago was detained at the request of the Ukrainian side in the ski resort of Courchevel in the French Alps, the State State Bureau of Investigation (SBI).
“To date, at the request of investigators from the State Bureau of Investigation, Konstantin Zhevago has been detained in Courchevel. You know that he is a defendant in several criminal proceedings at the DBR. The documents for extradition are being prepared now,” Tatyana Sapyan, Communications Adviser of the SBI, said on the air of the Ukrainian telethon.
Konstantin Zhevago, according to Forbes, is now one of the most famous businessmen in Ukraine, who is one of the five most wealthy Ukrainians.
Immediately after the news of Zhevago’s arrest, Ferrexpo’s shares fell at lightning speed by about 5.5% lower than before the press statements about the businessman’s arrest.
Over the past 52 weeks, the exchange rate Ferrexpo's shares fell even lower to 96 pence amid news of a halt in production due to problems with energy supply caused by Russian shelling of energy infrastructure, as well as taking into account the general situation in the global iron ore market.
