reiterates Yukos its desire to avoid bankruptcy: printer friendly version Yukos reiterates its desire to avoid bankruptcy Erin E. Arvedlund The New York Times Thursday, September 23, 2004 MOSCOW Yukos on Wednesday reiterated that it wanted to avoid filing for bankruptcy, and executives said the Russian oil giant was still seeking a rapprochement with the Kremlin. Viktor Gerashchenko, the Soviet-era central banker who is chairman of the company, said the government's relentless attacks were aimed at bankrupting Yukos and then transferring its most valuable assets either to Gazprom, the country's natural gas monopoly, which is soon to merge with Rosneft, another oil company, or possibly to another state-friendly energy concern. In an interview with the also said Yukos would do commitments and keep its Russia's oil exports, or said. "The company's bankruptcy, if it initiates it itself, is more profitable to creditors," Gerashchenko said. "Premature declaration of bankruptcy may be considered to be false bankruptcy, which threatens Yukos staff with new persecutions, including criminal action," he was quoted as saying. Gerashchenko mounting tax and 2001. So expected for also said Yukos's management would try to settle claims, which stand at $7.5 billion for the years 2000 far, Yukos has paid $2.2 billion, but claims are other years. Russian newspaper Kommersant, Gerashchenko all it could to fulfill its financial oil flowing. Yukos produces 20 percent of 2 percent of the world's supply.
Most important, Yukos does not intend to declare bankruptcy, he
As the General Prosecutor's Office pursues the company's management, a Yukos executive confirmed Wednesday that the chief executive of the operating company Yukos-Moscow, Yuri Beilin, and the head of Yukos's legal department, Dmitri Gololobov, had fled the country. The board of directors will meet Thursday to approve the reversal of a failed merger with a rival, Sibneft. The meeting will focus on the technicalities of unwinding the deal, include which swapping 35 percent of Sibneft shares for $3 billion and 9 percent of Yukos. Yukos executives also said they were submitting plans to keep their company from being split up. Investment bankers hired by the state are appraising its prize subsidiary, Yuganksneftegas, which produces 60 percent of Yukos's oil, and a report is expected at the end of the month. "We're not holding the cards, every direction seems to be toward
disposition of assets, but at the same time we have submitted some proposals" to avert a sale, Steven Theede, chief executive, told Bloomberg News in London. Analysts said Yukos's financial squeeze - its chief financial officer said last week that the company was running out of cash for day-to-day operations - showed that bankruptcy was almost assured. "In the West, a company in Yukos's situation would have filed for Chapter 11 protection months ago," said an analyst who asked not to be identified. "The problem is that the president has declared that the company will not go bankrupt - so it can't." President Vladimir Putin in June said he did not wish for Yukos to go bankrupt. In a sign there is still scope for foreign players in Russia's en...