A court in the eastern French city of Chambery announced on Thursday it was in favour of extraditing wealthy businessman and former member of parliament Kostyantyn Zhevago to Ukraine.

"There are no grounds for refusing extradition," Chambery appeals court decided.

The judge added that part of Ukraine was not in a situation of intense conflict and therefore Zhevago could be sent back.

However, Zhevago's lawyers said there was a political nature to the extradition request and the tycoon would be at risk if he were returned to his homeland.

"We do not send people back to a war zone," added defence lawyer, Francois Zimeray.

Zhevago's case comes as Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky seeks to limit the power of oligarchs who have been dominating the economy since the fall of the Soviet Union three decades ago.

Since independence in 1991, a small group of businessmen with close ties to the government have had held sway over Ukraine's political system.

In 2021, parliament passed a law aimed at limiting their influence. Since then, Russia's invasion has inflicted huge damage on Ukraine's industrial sector and contributed to the erosion of their wealth.

Case adjourned

Zhevago, who controls London-listed iron pellet producer Ferrexpo, was arrested on 28 December in the upmarket ski resort of Courchevel, in the French Alps.

Ukrainian authorities wish to interview him in connection with the disappearance of $113 million from the now bankrupt lender Finance & Credit Bank.

Zhevago told Reuters news agency that Finance & Credit was one of dozens of banks to lose large sums of money after Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014.

Last week, a Ukrainian court ordered the seizure of shares owned by Zhevago in Ferrexpo following compensation claims worth nearly 46 billion hryvnias ($1.25 billion) over his bank which was declared bankrupt in 2015.

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Prior to the trial opening, Zhevago pointed to his record of investing in his homeland as proof of his innocence, saying that he had poured $500 million into Ukraine over the past five years.

"If I had actually embezzled $100 million as I am falsely accused of doing in Ukraine, I would have parked the money abroad," he told Reuters.

"I believe in French justice and I hope that you will hear the arguments of my lawyers", he declared at the end of the hearing on Thursday.

The case has been adjourned to 30 March.

(With Reuters, AFP)

Originally published on RFI