English court seizes Zhevago’s assets due to debt to the National Bank

8 August 2025 22:37

The High Court of England and Wales has granted the request of the National Bank of Ukraine and issued an order to seize the assets of the former owner of Finance and Credit Bank, Konstantin Zhevago. This refers to the outstanding debt to the NBU in the amount of UAH 1.539 billion. This was reported by "Komersant Ukrainian" with reference to the National Bank of Ukraine.

The court made the decision during a hearing without prior notice to the defendant in order to freeze part of Zhevago’s assets until the case on the recognition and enforcement of the Ukrainian court decision of October 1, 2019, is completed in England.

“In its judgment, the Ukrainian court held him liable to the National Bank for non-payment of the debt in favor of the NBU, for which he provided a personal guarantee, under stabilization loans granted to JSC “BANK “FINANCE AND CREDIT” before its insolvency. Kostyantyn Zhevago failed to make the payments for which he provided a personal guarantee and did not pay most of the debt recognized by the decision of the Ukrainian court in favor of the National Bank in connection with these obligations,” the statement said.

The National Bank welcomed the decision and stated that it was carrying out “systematic work” to repay debts on refinancing loans to insolvent banks, “despite the fierce resistance of the former owners.”

The case in brief

In 2015, Konstantin Zhevago entered into a surety agreement with the National Bank of Ukraine, personally guaranteeing the repayment of stabilization loans granted to Finance and Credit Bank before it was declared insolvent.

However, the bank failed to fulfill its obligations to the regulator. In December 2015, the NBU filed a lawsuit in a Ukrainian court. As a result of the case, the Shevchenkivsky District Court of Kyiv ordered Zhevago to pay UAH 1.539 billion of the debt.

In December 2019, the decision came into force and the NBU applied to the State Enforcement Service to enforce the court decision on debt collection. However, Kostyantyn Zhevago evaded its full implementation, so it has not yet been possible to fully enforce the court decision in Ukraine.

Therefore, the National Bank decided to apply to the court in England to enforce the decisions of the Ukrainian Themis outside the country.

“The NBU has been consistently, step by step, defending the financial interests of the state both in Ukrainian courts and abroad. Despite the fierce resistance of the former owners of insolvent banks, in particular by delaying cases in courts and manipulations, the National Bank is working systematically to repay the debt on refinancing loans to insolvent banks, including the Finance and Credit Bank,” commented NBU Governor Andriy Pyshnyi.

Legal support

The interests of the National Bank of Ukraine in the English jurisdiction are represented by Hogan Lovells International LLP, an international law firm that is supporting the process of freezing Zhevago’s assets until the final verdict of the English court.

According to law enforcement, Zhevago is abroad. In Ukraine, he is suspected of embezzling funds from the Finance and Credit bank. He is also involved in the case of misappropriation of almost UAH 400 million from the extraction and sale of minerals of national importance.

What is known about the Finance and Credit Bank

The former Finance and Credit Bank, which was liquidated in 2015, is part of the group of oligarch Konstantin Zhevago.

As reported, in November 2024, the Northern Commercial Court of Appeal upheld the decision to seize a number of assets of the former owner of the bankrupt Finance and Credit bank and shareholder of the Ferrexpo group, businessman Kostiantyn Zhevago, at the suit of the Deposit Guarantee Fund.

On September 17, 2015, the National Bank of Ukraine decided to classify Finance and Credit Bank as insolvent.

At the time of this decision, the bank’s shareholder was Konstantin Zhevago, who indirectly owned 97.67% of the shares.

As of December 2, 2024, the total debt of Finance and Credit Bank on all refinancing loans amounted to UAH 5.7 billion.

In 2019, Zhevago was notified of suspicion of possible involvement in the embezzlement of UAH 2.5 billion from Finance and Credit Bank and put on the international wanted list.

At the end of December 2022, Zhevago was detained in Courchevel, France, and placed under arrest while Ukraine’s extradition request was being considered. But a French court released him on bail of €1 million.

The oligarch himself denies all charges against him. Zhevago believes that the case against him is politically motivated and expects it to be closed or sent to court.

What is known about Zhevago’s case

As a reminder, the SAPO notified Zhevago of suspicion in the so-called “Knyazev case” regarding the judge’s alleged receipt of an undue benefit for a decision in favor of the businessman regarding his purchase of a 40.19% stake in the Poltava Mining and Processing Plant.

The HACC has already begun hearing the Knyazev case on the merits.

Zhevago, according to the investigation, is staying outside Ukraine.

on December 27, 2022, the Ukrainian businessman was detained in the ski resort of Courchevel in the French Alps. Subsequently, a court in France finally refused to extradite Zhevago to Ukraine.

As a reminder, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed a decree on National Security and Defense Council sanctions against former President of Ukraine, MP Petro Poroshenko, oligarch Ihor Kolomoisky, his business partner Hennadiy Boholyubov, pro-Russian politician, ex-MP, who is now in Russia, Viktor Medvedchuk, and businessman wanted in the case of Finance and Credit Bank Konstantin Zhevago.

What are the sanctions against Zhevago?

on February 13, the decree imposing the sanctions was officially published. In addition to Poroshenko, the National Security and Defense Council also imposed restrictive measures against Ihor Kolomoisky, Hennadiy Boholyubov, Kostiantyn Zhevago, and Viktor Medvedchuk.

The sanctions against all five are indefinite and identical, and include 17 restrictions:

deprivation of state awards of Ukraine and other forms of recognition;
temporary deprivation of the right to use and dispose of assets
complete cessation of trade operations;
complete cessation of transit of resources, flights and transportation through the territory of Ukraine;
preventing the withdrawal of capital from Ukraine;
suspension of economic and financial obligations;
prohibition of participation in privatization and lease of state property;
a ban on the use of the radio frequency spectrum of Ukraine;
complete termination of electronic communication services and use of electronic communication networks;
a ban on public and defense procurement of goods, works and services;
a complete ban on the entry of foreign non-military vessels and warships into the territorial sea of Ukraine, its inland waters, ports and aircraft into the airspace of Ukraine or landing on the territory of Ukraine;
a ban on increasing the authorized capital of business entities, enterprises in which the sanctioned person owns 10 percent or more of the authorized capital or has influence on the management of the legal entity or its activities;
introduction of additional measures in the field of environmental, sanitary, phytosanitary and veterinary control;
termination of trade agreements, joint projects, and industrial programs in certain areas, including security and defense;
a ban on the transfer of technologies and rights to intellectual property;
a ban on the acquisition of land plots;
other sanctions that comply with the principles of their application established by this law (prohibition to enter into contracts and transactions; prohibition to execute transactions with securities issued by this person; prohibition to pay dividends or other payments related to corporate rights (ownership of shares, stocks, units) in favor of the person against whom the sanctions were imposed and persons acting on his behalf).