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* CFO Chris Mawe to become acting CEO
* Zhevago to focus on issues at unnamed other business
* Source says business is Finance & Credit Bank
* Ferrexpo shares down 2%
By Yadarisa Shabong and Pushkala Aripaka
Oct 28 (Reuters) - Ferrexpo Chief Executive
Kostyantin Zhevago is temporarily stepping down to resolve
matters related to one of his former businesses in Ukraine, the
London-listed iron pellet producer said on Monday.
The Ukraine-focused company said Zhevago would hand over the
reins to finance chief Chris Mawe to focus on issues relating to
one of the businesses he owned until 2015.
Ferrexpo did not elaborate and declined further comment, but
a person familiar with the matter told Reuters the business in
question was Finance & Credit Bank (F&C), which Zhevago owned
until it went bankrupt in 2015.
"This temporary change of leadership is necessary and in the
interests of all shareholders to enable Mr Zhevago to focus on
on-going matters in Ukraine without impacting the company's
operations," Chairman Steve Lucas said in a statement, adding
that Zhevago continued to be backed by the board.
The first deputy head of Ukraine's state investigation
bureau, Olha Varchenko, said in a Facebook post last month that
Zhevago had been called for questioning as a suspect for
financial violations at F&C.
However, Switzerland-based Ferrexpo said earlier this month
Zhevago had not been served with any legal notices and he denied
any wrongdoing.
Reuters was unable to reach Zhevago for comment.
The Ukrainian mogul, 45, owns a stake of more than 50% in
Ferrexpo and was appointed CEO in 2008. He was also a member of
the Ukrainian parliament between 1998 and 2019.
He will remain on the board as a non-independent,
non-executive director, the company said. Mawe, who takes over
as acting CEO immediately, has been with the world's
third-largest pellet exporter for 11 years.
The move comes just two months after Ferrexpo said funds it
had donated to an Ukrainian charity, which coordinated
Ferrexpo's corporate social responsibility programme, may have
been misappropriated.
Discrepancies at the Blooming Land charity and an internal
review that ensued forced Ferrexpo to delay its annual results
and hammered its shares.
The shares, which have lost nearly a third of their value
this year, were down 2% at 1050 GMT on Monday.
(Reporting by Yadarisa Shabong and Pushkala Aripaka in
Bengaluru
Additional reporting by Pavel Polityuk in Kiev
Editing by Tomasz Janowski and David Holmes)
