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Russia set auction date for yukos { November 20 2004 } Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)    http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2004/11/20/russia_sets_date_for_auction_of_oil_giant_yukos/ http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2004/11/20/russia_sets_date_for_auction_of_oil_giant_yukos/ Russia sets date for auction of oil giant Yukos Government also demands another $6b in back taxes By Peter Finn, The Washington Post | November 20, 2004 MOSCOW -- The protracted legal battle over Russian oil giant Yukos appeared to enter its final phase yesterday when the government set a date to auction off a majority stake in the company's richest energy fields and demanded another $6 billion in back taxes from a business already facing a crippling $14 billion bill for outstanding taxes and fines. If the government follows through with the Dec. 19 sale -- and some investors cling to the hope of a last-minute deal to salvage the company -- Yukos will end up a worthless shell. Key assets in the country's burgeoning energy sector will probably fall at a discount price into the hands of a Russian company friendly to the Kremlin, analysts said. "Today's announcement is both stunning and expected," said Yukos chief executive Steven Theede in a statement." . . . What we are witnessing is, simply put, a government-organized theft to settle a political score." The government's campaign against Yukos is widely seen here as Kremlin retaliation for political activity by Yukos founder Mikhail Khodorkovsky, who was arrested a year ago. In a separate case, he is being tried on charges of tax evasion and fraud, and faces up to 10 years in prison. The Kremlin denies that the cases are politically motivated, calling them part of a crackdown on financial misdeeds. In a legal notice on the website of the government newspaper Rossiiskaya Gazeta, the Federal Property Fund said yesterday it would auction off 76.8 percent in the Yuganskneftegaz unit, a collection of oil fields that provides Yukos with 60 percent of its daily production of about 1 million barrels. A minimum bid was set at $8.6 billion, lower than even conservative estimates of the unit's value. In a report commissioned by the government, Western investment bank Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein valued Yuganskneftegaz at between $14.7 billion and $17.3 billion, but also gave what it called an "overly conservative" estimate of $10.4 billion. The auction was set to take place one day before Yukos shareholders are to consider filing for bankruptcy protection, a step that might have protected their assets from immediate seizure or sale. Within hours of the auction's disclosure yesterday, the Federal Tax Service added to the pressure on the company by demanding an additional $6 billion in back taxes and fines for 2003. The company said it and its subsidiaries still owe about $14 billion based on recalculation of its taxes for the years 2000 through 2002. President Vladimir Putin didn't comment on yesterday's disclosure, but deputy prime minister Alexander Zhukov said in New Delhi that the sale of Yukos assets is "not in the government's hands." The government said it would begin accepting bids for the stake in Yuganskneftegaz immediately and that the auction would be open to foreign companies. But analysts here said that it was unlikely that foreign companies would bid because they would conclude that the Kremlin wants the assets in the hands of Russians and because Yukos shareholders would probably sue a winning foreign company outside Russia. © Copyright 2004 The New York Times Company

Identity of yukos buyer remains a mystery { December 21 2004 } Putin sheds some light on buyer of yukos { December 22 2004 } Russia set auction date for yukos { November 20 2004 } Troubles of yukos drive up the price Yukos to cut supplies to china Files Listed: 5

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