Yukos executives 'flee' Russia

Embattled oil giant Yukos has accused the Russian government of seeking to bring about its "total destruction".

It emerged on Thursday that fear of arrest has forced all the firm's top executives to remain outside Russia.

The entire management board decided to stay abroad after prosecutors summoned Yukos' finance chief for questioning.

Shares in the company plunged 30% on Thursday and are now worth less than a dollar each, a fraction of the $16 they were worth in October 2003.

Emergency plan

Executives currently in London include Steven Theede, the company's American chief executive.

It is understood that senior executives will be travelling in Europe and the United States in the next few days but will return to Russia if necessary.

"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 in a statement, issued from London.

"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."

Earlier, chief financial officer Bruce Misamore had told the Financial Times he was summoned by the Russian general prosecutor's office for questioning but told them he was on a business trip.

"I am not going to sacrifice my life for [Russia's] political purposes," he said, speaking from London.

When asked if Mr Misamore had left the country for good, a Yukos spokeswoman told BBC News that he is "awaiting counsel from the US State Department over whether it is safe to go back for questioning [by the Russian general prosecutor's office]".

Mr Misamore later told the Associated Press that if the threat of arrest was removed, "then the management will be in Moscow".

The Prosecutor General's office confirmed that he was summoned for interview but declined to offer further details.

Some commentators have accused Yukos management of exaggerating their plight to gain sympathy.

Last week, the government said it would sell the company's main asset in December, with a starting price which may be as little as half its value.

Yukos managers are talking to stakeholders including " investors, financial analysts and advisers, sharing scenarios for going forward," said a company spokeswoman.

They are to draw up an emergency business plan for the company over the next four months.

This will focus on preventing accidents at facilities which may be sold as a result of the likely break-up of the company.

The company is continuing to pump out oil, with the managers of individual operating companies still in place.


Until now shareholders in the company, such as Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Platon Lebedev, have been the main focus of the government's ire. Both are in prison, with Mr Khodorkovsky currently standing trial on charges of fraud and tax evasion.

Yukos faces a massive tax bill of more than $20bn. But Yukos executives say the government's actions are politically motivated.

Russian president Vladimir Putin is believed to have disliked oligarchs like Mr Khodorkovsky meddling in politics.

His government last week approved a forced sale of Yuganskneftegas, Yukos' main production arm, for as little as $8.6bn when independent valuations of the business by investment banks have assessed its worth at $15bn-20bn.

HERE