A group of Austrian parliamentarians, led by Werner Kogler and Meri Disoski, has submitted an official inquiry to the Federal Minister of Finance regarding the business operations of Ukrainian billionaire Kostiantyn Zhevago and his associated corporate structures. Lawmakers are demanding clarification on whether Austrian entities were utilized for tax avoidance, money laundering, and bypassing international sanctions. The parliamentary move comes in response to an investigative journalism report exposing financial irregularities within one of Ukraine’s largest iron ore producers.
The parliamentary inquiry follows an exposé published by the Austrian magazine profil. According to the investigation, the Ukrainian mining operations of the Ferrexpo group in the Poltava region did not sell iron ore pellets directly to European steel giants—such as Voestalpine, Salzgitter, and ThyssenKrupp. Instead, the commodities were routed through the Swiss parent company, Ferrexpo AG, at artificially deflated prices. This mechanism effectively minimized taxable profits within Ukraine, shifting capital abroad.
Ukrainian MP Oleksiy Movchan, a member of the working group dedicated to stabilizing the Poltava mining facilities, stated that Ferrexpo owes its Ukrainian subsidiary at least $500 million. Furthermore, during the decade preceding the full-scale invasion, the group distributed over €1 billion in dividends to its shareholders. The enterprise is currently facing severe financial distress, which directly threatens thousands of regional jobs.
A central focus of the inquiry is the Vienna-based logistics firm First-DDSG Logistics Holding GmbH, which Zhevago has controlled since 2010. Despite consistently transporting Ferrexpo pellets along the Danube River for years, the logistics provider has reported substantial financial deficits.
First-DDSG Financial Performance Summary:
2022: Net loss of €44.80 million
2023: Net loss of €42.29 million
2024: Net loss of €40.99 million
Lawmakers have called on the Ministry of Finance to audit these figures for potential violations of transfer pricing regulations. The core objective is to determine if capital flight occurred at the expense of Austrian taxpayers.
The inquiry also demands a rigorous review of Ferrexpo’s long-standing commercial relationship with the Austrian steel conglomerate Voestalpine. In 2013, Voestalpine sold its shares in the trading firm VA Intertrading to Zhevago-controlled structures. Austrian MPs are now pushing for an audit of all joint transactions due to suspicions of insider trading involving Voestalpine shares, tax fraud, and money laundering.
The 20-point parliamentary document specifically questions whether Zhevago’s Austrian assets and luxury real estate holdings—located in Vienna, Maria Wörth, and Pressbaum—have been frozen following the Ukrainian government’s imposition of personal sanctions against the oligarch on February 25, 2025. Additionally, the probe seeks clarity on affiliated individuals, including Oleksandr Moroz and the Lattenmayer family.
The inquiry has been formally registered in parliament, and an official response from the government is pending.