Ferrexpo will 'take any actions needed' over CEO allegations

Ferrexpo said it would “take any actions that are needed” in the interests of shareholders and the company over allegations surrounding chief executive and majority shareholder Kostyantin Zhevago.

Ukrainian investigators last week started a process to add Zhevago to an international wanted list after he did not appear for questioning about his former banking business last month.

“Meanwhile, the board has been informed that Mr Zhevago has not been served with any legal notice and Mr Zhevago strongly denies any allegations of wrongdoing,” Ferrexpo said in a statement on Monday.

Ukrainian authorities have said they suspect Zhevago of large-scale money laundering and embezzling funds from Ukrainian lender Finance & Credit JSC, which he formerly owned. The allegation was made by a local prosecutor in a social media post last month, adding that the billionaire had been handed a so-called notice of suspicion.

Finance & Credit JSC was declared insolvent by the central bank in 2015, and an investigation established that 2.5bn hryvnia (£80m) was siphoned off from bank and transferred to foreign companies owned by Zhevago, according to the State Bureau of Investigations. Two executives from Finance & Credit have been indicted, Bloomberg reported.