By Juliette Jabkhiro and Oliver Hirt
CHAMBERY, France (Reuters) -Ukrainian tycoon Kostyantyn Zhevago should not be extradited over accusations of embezzling tens of millions of dollars because a fair trial cannot be guaranteed in "a war zone", his lawyer told a French court on Thursday.
The 49-year-old billionaire, who controls London-listed iron pellet producer Ferrexpo, was arrested at a ski resort in December at the request of Ukraine, which wants him over the disappearance of $113 million from the now bankrupt lender Finance & Credit Bank.
Zhevago, a former lawmaker and former beneficiary owner of Finance & Credit Bank, denies any wrong-doing.
He was released on bail for 1 million euros ($1.06 million), pending his appearance at an appeals court in Chambery, near to where he was arrested.
"The right to a fair trial is not protected as long as Ukraine is under martial law," Zhevago's lawyer Jessica Finelle told the court, which is expected to give its ruling on March 30.
"I believe in French justice and I hope the arguments presented by my lawyers will be heard," Zhevago told the judges.
The French prosecutor told the court the defence lawyer's claims were not sufficient reason to refuse the extradition, as Ukraine's judiciary still fell under the authority of the European Court of Human Rights.
Speaking to Reuters before the hearing, Zhevago told Reuters Finance & Credit was one of dozens of banks to lose vast sums of money after Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014.
Asserting his innocence, he said he had invested $500 million into Ukraine over the last 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 said.
"Instead, I have systematically invested in my public companies in recent years."
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.
Zhevago said he would appeal the "unfair and illegal" decision. "I reinvested everything in the bank, losing all my invested capital," he said, putting the institution's capital at around $400 million before it went into receivership.
Monthly publication Forbes Ukraine estimated Zhevago's worth at $2.4 billion in 2021 and $1.4 billion at the end of 2022.
($1 = 0.9437 euros)
(Reporting by Oliver Hirt, Olena Harmash and Juliette Jabkhiro; Writing by Olena Harmash; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne and Barbara Lewis)
