Kommersant: New YUKOS Vice President Has His Say

Court decides the fate of Vasily Alexanyan today

The conflict between the Moscow and London offices of YUKOS has moved to the front office. New executive vice president Vasily Alexanyan is threatening to reorganize the company's management structure so that he could manage its subsidiaries, with the exception of YUKOS RM (refining and marketing) and YUKOS EP (exploration and production), whose managements refuse to subordinate themselves to him. Alexanyan may succeed in his plans, which he announced yesterday, if he is not prevented from doing do by the court, which is to rule on elements of crime in his actions today, or law enforcement, which conducted searches of his apartment and suburban home right after he made his announcement.

Alexanyan said that the lack of information from the company' subsidiaries that has arisen from the conflict from the company's London and Moscow offices could reduce the value of the company's stock, thus bringing it closer to bankruptcy, and complicate life for temporary manager Eduard Rebgun, who is to present a plan to the court and YUKOS creditors by June 27 to settle the company's problems. He added that the problem with YUKOS RM and YUKOS EP, which take orders only from the company's London office “can be solved in a second” and that it would be known by the end of the week whether changes will be made in the company's management structure. Alexanyan was appointed executive vice president with the authority of president of the company on April 1. He had previously been a member of the legal team for main YUKOS shareholder Group MENATEP and head of the YUKOS legal department before that.

Alexanyan said that YUKOS Oil Co. has become a holding company and has practically no independent economic activity. The management of its subsidiaries are formally subordinate not to the president of YUKOS but to the management of YUKOS RM and YUKOS EP, whose managers are not executives of YUKOS Oil Co. Alexanyan said that that structure was untenable in a corporate conflict, mentioning that YUKOS RM head Anatoly Nazarov refuses to speak to him or provide requested information.

YUKOS temporary manager Rebgun told Kommersant yesterday that he will not become involved in the conflict. Nazarov was unavailable for comment.

by Anna Skornyakova, Olga Pleshanova, Evgeny Alexeev