Menatep Accuses West of “Cold Reaction” to Yukos “Robbery”

The Menatep group, which holds the majority of the stock in embattled Yukos, said that the Sunday auctioning of Yuganskneftegaz, the company’s chief production asset, is an outright violation of Russian and international law.

“We believe that Baikal Finance Group [the mystery company that bought the subsidiary in the forced auction] was nothing but a cover for the Russian government,” a Menatep press release said. It added that the announcement that Rosneft — a major state company — bought BFG only confirmed its suspicions.

The group added that while the government’s actions were not surprising “given the political course,” it was disappointed by what it called a “cold reaction” from governments in the West.

It also alleged that the Yukos assets had been “stolen” by the Russian government.

(MosNews, 12.23.2004)