Yukos shareholders to consider liquidation/bankruptcy Dec 20

Singapore (Platts)--26Nov2004

The shareholders of embattled Russian oil giant Yukos have decided to consider
liquidation or bankruptcy of the company at their extraordinary general
meeting on Dec 20, the company announced Friday. The Yukos board of directors
Thursday accepted a recommendation from the management board to take this
route and abandon implementation of an "anti-crisis program" it had planned
earlier to keep the company going in the short term. The emergency plan,
intended to cover a three- or four-month period, had become difficult to
implement in the face of the announced auction of Yuganskneftegaz at a bargain
price, the presentation of a tax bill in excess of Roubles 170-bil ($6-bil)
for 2003 and a lack of formal response from the government to the numerous
settlement proposals made by the company, Yukos said in a statement Friday.
Yuganskneftegaz, which produces some 1-mil b/d of oil (60% of Yukos's total),
is to be auctioned off on Dec 19 at a starting price of about $8.65-bil. Yukos
and the markets had expected a valuation closer to $20-bil.

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