Yukos given reprieve on cash debt

YUKOS has been given a stay of execution by the Russian courts as a former Canadian prime minister intervened in support of the company and its lead shareholder, Mikhail Khodorkovsky.
A court order freezing Yukos’s bank accounts has been partially lifted, allowing Yukos to pay salaries. The oil company has also been given more time to settle a $223 million (£122 million) bill from Russian bailiffs seeking to enforce a $3.4 billion claim from the Government for unpaid taxes and fines.

Fears that Yukos faced imminent bankruptcy and a fire sale of its core oil production subsidiary have helped to push the crude oil price to record levels and battered the share price of Russia’s biggest oil producer.
However, shares in Yukos surged 13 per cent yesterday after news of the temporary reprieve and the intervention of Jean Chretien. The former Canadian premier is seeking to mediate between the oil company and the Kremlin, an initiative which was welcomed yesterday by Menatep Bank, which holds the controlling stake in Yukos. The positive news for Yukos was tempered by reports that the Tax Ministry was examining Yukos accounts for 2002 which could lead to claims of more than $10 billion. Bailiffs seeking to enforce the $3.4 billon debt for the 2000 tax year have indicated plans to confiscate and sell Yuganskneftegaz, a production subsidiary that accounts for 60 per cent of the company’s output of 1.7 million barrels per day.

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