Yukos considers self-destruction

Shareholders in Yukos are considering liquidation or filing for bankruptcy, after deciding against a rescue plan for the embattled Russian oil firm.

The question will be put to a shareholders meeting on 20 December.

Some form of liquidation is being seen as a way to avoid selling a large part of the business, something threatened by the Russian Government.

Bankruptcy would allow the company to unfreeze its assets, and raise much-needed cash.

No anti-crisis plan could be implemented while Yuganskneftegas, Yukos's main production arm, remained up for auction, the company concluded.

The management team had hoped to agree an anti-crisis plan covering the period 2005-2009, for how it could keep the business running.

Shares in Yukos dropped 6.25% to $1.05 in Friday morning trading.

In a statement on Thursday night, the company accused the Russian Government of seeking to bring about its "total destruction".

The entire management board has stayed abroad since prosecutors summoned Yukos's finance chief for questioning.

"The actions taken against members of the Yukos management team in the last few days are more deliberate than the cycle of raids and demands placed on the company in the recent past," the company said.

"It is our belief that this extraordinary pressure... has specific aims: the removal of the management, the derailing of any settlement process with the Russian authorities and the total destruction of Yukos."

HERE