Yukos may get breather from gas JV stake sale at $450 mn

A group of Russian investment banks offered oil giant Yukos $450m for its stake in a multinational gas joint venture Friday, a proposal that could help the company raise money to pay off a crippling back taxes bill.


The offer by the Alfa Services group follows earlier suggestions from Yukos that it would sell its stake in Rospan International. Yukos faces a $3.4bn back taxes bill that it says could force the company into bankruptcy.

The tax claims surrounding Russia’s largest oil producer — along with the trial of former CEO Mikhail Khodorkovsky — are part of a web of actions that many say are part of a campaign to punish the billionaire for his growing clout. Some say they may be aimed at putting at least part of Yukos in Kremlin-friendly hands.

Alfa Services proposed buying Yukos’ 56% stake in Rospan, a joint venture with Anglo-Russian oil company TNK-BP. TNK-BP earlier said it was willing to buy out Yukos’ stake in Rospan for $357m.


HERE