Boris Jordan, the Russian-based American financier who engineered the sale of the assets of the exiled tycoon Vladimir Gusinsky, has offered to act as an intermediary to prevent the bankruptcy of the embattled oil group Yukos. Mr Jordan has written to leading Western institutions with minority stakes in Yukos proposing to lead a coalition designed to wrest control of the company from Mikhail Khodorovsky and his partners. He wrote earlier this week to half a dozen funds, suggesting a meeting in the coming days at which he will discuss ways to oust the majority shareholder and realign the company's management. "We should force the management to change, or change the management," he said. "I don't want to be the one screaming within two months that they have lost everything in Russia." Mr Jordan, who heads the Sputnik Investment Fund, is believed to hold a stake in Yukos, and is interested in taking further equity as part of his restructuring plan, which could involve hiring him as a temporary manager. The action would echo his role in the struggle between Mr Gusinsky's Media Most group and the state-backed company Gazprom to which the tycoon owed significant debts. Gazprom appointed Mr Jordan to run Mr Gusinsky's assets, once it had asserted majority control in 2001, and negotiate a buy-out of his remaining stake. Mr Jordan was criticised for playing a role alongside the Russian state in a conflict that was widely seen as resulting in a reduction of freedom of speech in Russia under President Vladimir Putin. His subsequent editorial policy, notably over the Chechen hostage seize in Moscow's Dubrova theatre, alienated some Kremlin officials and led to his firing last year, raising questions about his ability to act as an intermediary. Other investors reacted sceptically to Mr Jordan's proposals, suggesting big investment funds were largely opting to sell their Yukos stakes instead if they believed that the company would go bankrupt. Yukos faces a $3.4bn tax charge and a court order preventing asset sales, which management warned could lead to bankruptcy in the coming months.