YUKOS Oil Company offered its stake in Sibneft as payment for a RUR 99.4bn ($3.4bn) tax claim.
The Court Bailiff Service of Moscow’s Central Administrative District commenced execution proceedings on the judgment against YUKOS. On June 29, the Moscow Arbitration Court ruled that YUKOS shall pay RUR 99.4bn in back taxes and fines for 2000. The company’s bank accounts have been frozen.
According to Russian law, execution proceedings are aimed not only at satisfying the plaintiff’s claims, but also at maintaining the stable commercial activity of the defendant.
The actions of the Court Bailiff Service to freeze the company’s bank accounts create an indisputable threat of halting the current operations of YUKOS, and also pose a threat to the company's ability to pay current taxes and meet its obligations to creditors, YUKOS said in a statement issued late Thursday.
In accordance with the federal law of the Russian Federation "On execution proceedings", securities owned by the defendant can be sold to satisfy the plaintiff’s claims. YUKOS currently owns a stake in the Sibneft oil company; this is a highly liquid asset, and its value exceeds the total amount of taxes and fines claimed from YUKOS. The sale of the stake will not affect YUKOS’s operational activities, the statement says.
The refusal to take Sibneft shares and the accounts freeze would have a negative impact on the operations of the company and the social and economic situation in ten regions of Russia where YUKOS operated, YUKOS said.