Yukos ready to open new accounts

Russia's top oil exporter, Yukos, said yesterday it would open new bank accounts to fund its daily operations after bailiffs seized accounts of its main oil-producing units.

"Those affiliates of Yukos whose accounts are seized will be forced to open new accounts, which will be used only for funding of daily operations, payment of taxes and salaries," the firm said.

Yukos warned last week it might be forced to cut output after a Moscow court ruled that $2.6bn (£1.46bn) of its funds could be seized. The money is from Yukos's two core Siberian units, Yuganskneftegaz and Tomskneft, held on accounts of a Russian affiliate of French bank Crédit Lyonnais. Bank accounts of parent company Yukos have been seized since June in a state campaign to force Yukos to pay $3.4bn (£1.9bn) in back taxes for 2000.

Yukos's tax woes are part of a broader campaign seen as organised by the Kremlin to punish the firm's politically ambitious founder, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, who is on trial on fraud and tax evasion charges.

HERE