Moscow firm offers to play white knight to Yukos

Moscow-based oil firm Naftasib group is proposing a rescue for Russian major Yukos, a newspaper reported on Friday, adding another name to a growing list of investors hoping to step in to save the embattled firm.

The Kommersant business daily cited two London sources close to shareholders in Yukos and Sibneft, the rival it tried and failed to merge with, as saying that Naftasib had approached Russian authorities offering to help with the Yukos situation.

Sources said the offer is similar to another rescue plan that had been put forward last month by a British-based consortium headed by former Yukos board member Konstantin Kagalovsky, with $8bn to pay off Yukos’ debts in return for a controlling stake.

Kommersant said the little-known Naftasib had connections to the Russian emergencies ministry but generally shunned publicity. Yukos, one of Russia’s biggest oil firms, has been close to collapse for months, after tax authorities hit it with tax claims running to $7bn and bailiffs froze its bank accounts and assets.

Analysts believe its plight is Kremlin punishment for the political ambitions of its main shareholder Mikhail Khodorkovsky, who is on trial for fraud and tax evasion.

HERE