18 June 2004 00:00
Putin offers reassurance over Yukos
ByLine: Andrew Jack in Moscow
The Russian Trading System stopped trade in shares of troubled oil company Yukos for the rest of Thursday after they
rose 34.19 per cent to $8.32. The stock soared after Russian president Vladimir Putin said the government had no plans
to bankrupt the company.
"Russian authorities, the government and economic authorities are not interested in the bankruptcy of such a
company as Yukos," said Mr Putin, speaking in the Uzbek capital of Tashkent, according to Interfax news agency.
"The government will do its best to prevent the collapse of the company."
Mr Putin's comments came a day after the trial of Yukos's top shareholder Mikhail Khodorkovsky opened. The
charges of fraud and tax evasion are seen by many as an attempt by the Kremlin to snuff out the political ambitions of
Russia's richest man.
MICEX-listed shares jumped by more than 20 per cent after Mr Putin's comments.
His remarks also came on the heels of an announcement in London by Yukos that it was prepared to sell assets in order
to raise money to pay a $3.4bn tax bill which the company says could tip it in to bankruptcy.
Under the plan, core shareholders in Yukos, including Mr Khodorkovsky, grouped in a company called Menatep, would
also be prepared to sell some of their shares to help pay the tax bill.
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