Hearings over Ferrexpo Poltava set for November, move to Kyiv

The venue for a court case challenging additional share issues at Ferrexpo’s (FXPO LN) key production subsidiary, Ferrexpo Poltava Mine, was changed from the Commercial Court of Poltava region to the Commercial Court of Kyiv, where hearings were scheduled to begin in November, Interfax reported yesterday. This plaintiffs in the case, representatives of Russian businessman Alexander Babakov, former owner of a 40% interest in Ferrexpo Poltava, filed the case in November 2011 to challenge additional share issues conducted by the asset in 2002-2008, which diluted a disputable stake down to 14%. Last year Ukraine’s High Economic Court, after a six-year legal battle, acknowledged a 2002 sales-purchase agreement wherein Babakov agreed to sell the stake as illegal.

Roman Topolyuk: The main reason for the change in courts might be to better facilitate the participation of state officials, namely securities regulators, which are named among the defendants in the case and are located in Kyiv. The announcement also indicates that the legal process might be gaining momentum, though it might still be quite a long time before any material decision is taken by the court.