Konstantin Zhevago last interview Part32 Apr 2025 13:50
Part3 Only ArcelorMittal, which bought the metallurgical plant for $4.8 billion, and possibly Metinvest, have invested more in Ukraine than Ferrexpo. And the Ukrainian state has decided to expropriate 49.5% of one of the three largest investors.
Therefore, Ferrexpo will 100% win this case, because if law enforcement officers want to take my shares and my family's shares, then they need to go to London. But they have already gone there, spent large public funds and were refused. They will not be allowed to act illegally abroad.
If ARMA takes control of 49.5% of the plant, will you, as a major shareholder, raise the issue of stopping it and reducing investments?
The decision of all major shareholders: if expropriation occurs, there will be no investment in the company. How else? Why take the risk of further investment if they can be expropriated in the same way? The lack of investment will lead to a reduction not only in our production, but also in contractors: no investment - no orders.
Why do you think law enforcement is interested in Poltava GOK? After all, the value of 49.5% of the plant, at current prices, is approximately twice as much as the $110 million that, as the State Bureau of Investigation suspects, were withdrawn from the Financial and Economic Development Fund?
I don’t know why Poltava GOK. We just have a very powerful and creative government. The value of this share is at least five times greater. 49.5% of Poltava GOK is worth at least $500 million. In addition, with $3 billion in investments that the company made after the IPO. 49.5% accounts for $1.5 billion.
And here is the main question: if I wanted to steal $110 million from the bank, why did I then invest $1.5 billion in Ukraine? This is absurd.
Have you considered the option of selling your stake in Ferrexpo during these three years of war?
No. My family and I never wanted, did not plan, and will not sell these shares. We did and do everything to ensure that the enterprise develops, and Ukraine along with it. All shareholders of Ferrexpo, including our family, built Yeristovsky GOK from scratch for $1.2 billion - the first (after the collapse of the USSR) GOK of such capacity built on the territory of post-Soviet countries. And this is one of the most efficient GOKs in the world.