Ferrexpo’s Cash Dwindles to $17 Million as Legal Woes and War Block a $100 Million Lifeline

London-listed iron ore producer Ferrexpo scrambles for $100M capital injection as war damage, frozen VAT refunds, and a criminal probe into its top shareholder threaten survival by August 2026.

The London-listed iron ore producer Ferrexpo is running out of options. With its shares suspended since 1 May and net freely accessible cash down to roughly $17 million by mid-April, the company is scrambling to secure a capital injection of at least $100 million. But a toxic mix of war damage, frozen assets, and a fresh criminal investigation into its largest shareholder is making that rescue anything but certain.

A Shareholder Under Scrutiny

On 28 April, a Kyiv court authorised a new probe into Kostyantin Zhevago, the billionaire who controls Ferrexpo through his 49.3% stake in Fevamotinico. Ukrainian prosecutors allege he embezzled around $113 million from his now-insolvent Finance & Credit Bank between 2007 and 2015. Zhevago fled Ukraine in 2019 and was arrested in France in late 2022, but two extradition requests were rejected by Paris over fair-trial concerns.

The reputational fallout has been devastating. Banks and lenders are now effectively barred from providing conventional debt financing to Ferrexpo, as anti-money laundering and know-your-customer rules make any exposure to Zhevago-linked entities untenable. Ukrainian authorities have also frozen shares in Ferrexpo AG and its local subsidiaries, blocking the company from pledging collateral for external loans.

The VAT Trap

That freeze has had a direct cash impact. As of 31 March 2026, Ferrexpo was sitting on 90.3 million dollars in outstanding VAT refunds from the Ukrainian state. Tax authorities have refused to pay back 69.4 million of that sum, citing the sanctions against Zhevago. The money is stuck — and Ferrexpo has already been forced to cut staff and scale back production as a result.

The company’s net liquidity stood at around $20 million in mid-April, down from $101 million at the end of 2024. Excluding funds held at MBaer Merchant Bank, which lost its banking licence in February 2026, the freely available figure is closer to $17 million. Without a successful fundraising, management warns the cash will run out by the end of August 2026.

Production in Freefall

The war in Ukraine remains the primary driver of the crisis. Russian strikes on the country’s energy grid have crippled Ferrexpo’s operations. In the first quarter of 2026, output slumped to roughly 593,000 tonnes of iron ore — a 72% collapse compared with the same period a year earlier. The company is currently running at about a quarter of its pre-war capacity. One pellet line restarted in late February, but overall capacity remains severely constrained.

The Accounting Deadlock

The trading suspension was triggered by Ferrexpo’s failure to publish its 2025 annual report by the 30 April deadline. The reason is a classic catch-22: auditors cannot sign off on a going-concern basis until the capital increase is completed, but the capital increase cannot be formally launched without audited accounts.

Fevamotinico has given conditional backing to the planned $100 million equity raise. The main shareholder insists on two conditions: it must be allowed to participate pro rata, and the total size must not exceed $100 million. Institutional investors have expressed non-binding interest in a recapitalisation above that threshold, but turning those expressions into a firm bookbuilding process remains elusive.

For now, Ferrexpo’s shares stay frozen, its 2025 accounts remain unsigned, and the clock is ticking. The next move belongs to the investors — not the majority shareholder.