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Russian oil companies have long been silent on what they will do if YUKOS assets are offered for sale, the Vremya Novostey newspaper reported. It seems increasingly likely that part of YUKOS assets will be sold at auction.
The managers of the embattled oil company are ready for this. According to them, YUKOS can find about $2bn to pay on the Tax Ministry’s claims, but the company is unable to pay the required $3.4bn now.
Over the past two days, Russia’s largest oil companies have assured the public that they were not going to fall upon the remains of their partner. On Thursday, LUKoil President Vagit Alekperov said YUKOS assets were “not an area for investment”. Gazprom issued a similar statement a day earlier.
All these statements came only after news filtered through on Tuesday that Gazprom could buy YUKOS assets if they were offered for sale. However, this statement, made by two top managers at Gazprom, was refuted by the company’s leadership the next day. After that, all other large companies refused to comment on their interest in YUKOS.
Certainly, this does not mean that Russian oil companies have no interest in YUKOS. But they prefer not to show it publicly, the newspaper concludes.
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RUSSIA IN FACTS
