Following the report, YUKOS stock dropped by more than 8 percent on the MICEX. However, analysts say the freezing is just a “technical” decision, with YUKOS spokesman Alexander Shadrin telling RBC that all of the company’s accounts and assets had been frozen long ago. One analysts interpreted the freeze news as another attempt by speculators to gain at the expense of the embattled oil firm.

The Arbitration Court of Moscow is said to have frozen the assets of YUKOS subsidiaries Samaraneftegaz, Tomskneft, Syzran oil refinery, Achinsk oil refinery, East-Siberian Oil and Gas Company, Angarsk Oil and Chemical Company, Tambovnefteprodukt and Irkutsknefteprodukt.

Analysts see the freeze as a formality. Lev Snykov, at Sovlink Securities, said the assets had been frozen twice already. “First, they froze the assets of the parent company, and now it has come to subsidiaries. The latest freeze was a mere formality,” he said. Prospekt analysts put the value of the seized YUKOS assets at about $8 billion, which is much more than Yuganskneftegaz claims from YUKOS. Experts say it’s difficult to predict developments. Perhaps, the government plans to build a vertically integrated company based on YUKOS’s assets, after the Gazprom-Rosneft merger is completed.