Russian oil giant YUKOS says that it is unable to meet a midnight deadline to pay a $3.4 billion back-tax bill
Published:
8 July 2004 y., Thursday
Russian oil giant YUKOS says that it is unable to meet a midnight deadline to pay a $3.4 billion back-tax bill and says bailiffs could begin taking control of its assets within hours.
A YUKOS official made the admission on Wednesday hours before the deadline at the close of a day dominated by reports the
company was in last-minute talks to stave off bankruptcy. Its detained chief shareholder, billionaire Mikhail Khodorkovsky, was
said by his lawyer to be ready to give up control of the firm.
"We are not in a position to pay and we have not paid," the official told Reuters.
"This means bailiffs could start writing off funds from our accounts from Thursday and begin evaluating our assets to offer them
at tenders or in direct purchase deals."
The affair is widely seen as being driven by President Vladimir Putin in a resolve to end Khodorkovsky's political ambitions and
demonstrate to other wealthy businessmen that they should not work against the Kremlin.
Khodorkovsky's trial on fraud and tax evasion resumes next Monday. He has been in jail since last October.
Putin has pledged not to destroy YUKOS but gave no comment on Wednesday, appearing at a news conference with Bulgaria's
president but leaving before anyone could ask about the affair.
Šaltinis:
swissinfo.org
Copying, publishing, announcing any information from the News.lt portal without written permission of News.lt editorial office is prohibited.
The most popular articles
A specific EU budget line for the new EU stabilisation mechanism should be created as soon as possible, to ensure its credibility, Council, Commission and Parliament negotiators agreed at a three-way meeting on Wednesday.
more »
New EU rule will help phone-users avoid astronomical bills for web-surfing and downloads abroad.
more »
The Communication approved today by the Commission builds on the principles presented on 12 May to reinforce the economic governance in the European Union.
more »
Eurostat report just published shows that the crisis has brought some lower taxes.
more »
New legislation is needed to ensure fair returns to farmers and transparent prices to consumers, by enforcing fair competition throughout the food supply chain, said Agriculture Committee MEPs on Monday.
more »
Fish imports play a crucial role in supplying the European market, yet fisheries and aquaculture are strategic sectors that do not lend themselves to a purely free-trade approach, believes the EP Fisheries Committee.
more »
I will support every proposal that strengthens cooperation among the European Union's Member States and serves Lithuania's interests," President of the Republic of Lithuania Dalia Grybauskaitė said at the meeting with EU Member States' ambassadors resident in Lithuania.
more »
The fourth World Lithuanian Economic Forum “High tech innovation & investment: local to global” will start in London on 22 June.
more »
Lithuania aims for the five Nordic countries and three Baltic States to become single community of values, which would be linked by a versatile quality of democracy, security and everyday life.
more »
MEPs decided on Wednesday to create a special committee to prepare for the EU's next long-term budgetary framework.
more »