Konstyantyn Zhevago: Problems in the oligarch's corporate empire with bankruptcy proceedings
A bankrupt bank, an alleged bribery of the Supreme Court judge and creditors fighting over mining and pharma companies. Ukrainian oligarch Konstantin Zhevago lives in France and is facing increasing problems with his corporate empire. Photo: Platform "Kommentarii"
While he is staying in France, creditors are buying claims on his former bank „Finance & Credit“ and could, through bankruptcy proceedings, take control of the mining complex „Poltava GOK“ and the pharma group Arterium. This was reported by the Ukrainian portal „Komentarii“.
Several criminal and civil proceedings with claims amounting to billions are pending in Ukraine against Ukrainian entrepreneur Konstyantyn Zhevago.
France has so far refused to extradite Zhevago to Ukraine.
Background
Konstantin Zhevago owned 97.66 percent of the bank „Finance & Credit“, which went bankrupt in 2015. According to the State Investigation Bureau (DBR), the bank guaranteed loans to offshore companies controlled by Zhevago; foreign creditors subsequently wrote off $113 million.
Additional funds are said to have been funneled through affiliated companies. In case No. 62024000000000394 the damage amounts to 519.2 million UAH, including transactions of over 17 million euros. In March 2026 Zhevago was charged with a criminal suspicion in France, and in April a Ukrainian court authorized investigations in his absence.
Bribery allegation
A second case concerns the Supreme Court of Ukraine. According to the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU), Zhevago offered the former chairman of the Supreme Court, Vsevolod Kniaziev, through intermediaries, 2,7 million US dollars for a ruling on shares of the Poltawa mining combine. On April 19, 2023, the Supreme Court ruled in this matter in favor of Zhevago's group Ferrexpo.
Two years later, on May 15, 2026, Vsevolod Kniaziev was arrested. In June 2026 he was sentenced to five years in prison and the confiscation of his entire assets.
This indictment against Zhevago is being heard by the Supreme Anti-Corruption Court (procedure No. 52023000000000460, case No. 991/8191/26). These are charges, not judicially established facts.
New developments around the Poltava mining combine
The deposit insurance fund is demanding 46 billion UAH (case No. 910/268/23). Seized are 50.3 percent of the corporate rights in the Poltava mining combine as well as in the Jeristowo and Bilaniwka combines. The turnover of the Poltava combine fell between 2021 and 2025 from 44.2 to 20.8 billion hryvnia.
On 24 February 2026 the bankruptcy proceedings against the Poltawa combine were opened (case No. 917/101/24).
The applicant was the Maximum Capital Group, which filed claims amounting to 4.7 billion UAH – from bank guarantees, the administrator is Dmytro Kutscherjawyj. Co‑owners of the creditor are Leonid Krjutschkow (25 percent), Wassyl Kotynkewytsch, Serhij Hratschow and Serhij Hluchenkyj.
Krjutschkow also appears in the dispute over Arterium. The company Sky-Development bought at auction GL18N027381 bank claims with a nominal value of 2.436 billion hryvnia for 243.67 million, ten percent of the starting price. The purchase was financed by the Cypriot ORUM (CYPRUS) LIMITED.
After that Sky-Development filed for the bankruptcy of Kyjiwmedpreparat with claims of 110,11 million UAH (case no. 910/5245/25). In case no. 914/1317/25 a court approved the restructuring of Halytschfarm: 1,39 billion UAH debt will be converted into 154,44 million shares, corresponding to 91,25 percent of the plant. Involved are Arterium LTD and Farmed, separately claims of 338,56 million UAH were filed.
In the meantime, Sky-Development itself apparently faces bankruptcy. Shareholders are ORUM (33.4 percent), Kotynkewytsch (33.3 percent), STAR (16.7 percent) and Sawod-Invest (16.6 percent); the beneficial owners are Krjutschkow and Kotynkewytsch. In case No. 12026000000001226 authorities are investigating alleged takeover of corporate control. On August 26, ORUM demanded 220.67 million UAH and initiated bankruptcy proceedings No. 910\/9675\/26,
For the real estate of Kyjiwmedpreparat two companies of Inna Prylepko are interested. Suchasna Metalurhijna offered 280,114 million UAH for the property at Saksahanskoho Street 139 in Kyiv, Perform Standart participated in the auction. In the same proceedings (No. 910/5245/25, 910/6708/26) a first‑instance court ordered 311,94 million UAH against the Slovenian company Marifarm and terminated the license agreement for the preparation Gabana.
Reactions
The asset management agency ARMA transferred seized properties of Zhevagos to Optima Resurs, 81 percent of the profit goes to the state. The truck manufacturer AwtoKrAS came under state control, while the football club Worskla is involved in a conflict over the company Neomineraly. Sanctions of the National Security Council (No. 81/2025) apply to Zhevago.
A game of time
Ferrexpo, listed on the London Stock Exchange, meanwhile received a capital increase of $100 million. $50 million of that was contributed by the agribusiness entrepreneur Andrij Verevskyi, about $40 million by the Zhevago structure Fevamotinico, which previously held 49.27 percent. Verevskyi is counting on 21.4 percent of the shares.
Just as Austria did in the cases of Tupytskyi and Bachmatjuk, another EU state, France, has refused extradition to Ukraine. The reasoning behind the French decision is not known in open sources. For the proceedings in Kyiv this means they will be conducted against an absent defendant, while creditors and administrators are already redistributing the assets.
The presumption of innocence applies to Konstantyn Zhevago and all persons named in the article.
More on the topic: The Zhevago case, Part 1: The oligarch's network · Part 2: Focus on Austria · Ferrexpo: Andrii Verevskyi gets involved
Source: Ukrainian portal „Komentarii“