Yukos lawyer faces arrest warrant

Russian prosecutors have issued an arrest warrant for Yukos' chief lawyer and arrested another executive from the oil firm on suspicion of embezzlement.

The Prosecutor General's office said it wanted to apprehend lawyer Nikolay Gololobov on suspicion of embezzling shares in the firm's Siberian oil unit.

Mr Gololobov, who is in London, said the charges were politically motivated.

Prosecutors confirmed the arrest of Alexei Kurtsin, an official at Yukos' Moscow headquarters, following a raid.

Prominent figure

Yukos, Russia's largest oil exporter, faces ruin after being asked to pay $18.5bn (£10bn) in back taxes dating from 2000 to 2002.

Mr Gololobov has been a prominent figure in defending Yukos against government charges that it deliberately evaded paying taxes.

Interfax, the Russian news agency, said that Mr Gololobov had been accused of appropriating shares worth 3bn roubles ($105m).

"I believe that charges against me are falsified and politically motivated to force me as a lawyer to give evidence against my clients-oil company Yukos and its shareholders," Mr Gololobov said in a statement.

Offices raided

Mr Kurtsin was arrested following a raid on a Moscow office on Wednesday.

Interfax said the official was alleged to have embezzled 22m roubles ($766,000) by passing the money off as charitable contributions for the disabled.

Yukos' huge tax bill could be set to rise again.


The Interfax agency quoted an unnamed official at the Russian tax ministry as saying that bailiffs could seek an additional $6bn in taxes from the firm for 2003.

Yukos could be broken-up in the face of a government backed onslaught against the company and its founder Mikhail Khodorkovsky.

Russian authorities had threatened to sell off the firm's main production unit, Yuganskneftegaz, if Yukos did not pay $6.2bn in tax by the end of Wednesday.

Yukos has said its sale could forced the firm into insolvency.

Mr Khodorkovsky is in custody, facing charges of tax evasion and fraud relating to business deals in the 1990s.

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