Yukos names insider to settle tax

Russian oil firm Yukos has brought in government insider Viktor Gerashchenko to spearhead its effort to avoid bankruptcy by seeking to settle a massive tax bill. Yukos also replaced Chief Executive Simon Kukes with U.S. oilman Steven Theede at its annual general meeting Thursday. Analysts said Kukes had failed to make progress in a $3.4 billion tax dispute, and Gerashchenko -- a former central bank chief and proven crisis manager -- would be able to bring his establishment credentials to the negotiating table as Yukos chairman. A former senior executive in energy giant ConocoPhillips, Theede comes in at a time when the firm is mired in court battles and its main shareholder and former CEO Mikhail Khodorkovsky is on trial for fraud. Last week, the company wrote to Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov proposing to save itself by handing over assets in lieu of tax and buying out the 32 percent stake of Khodorkovsky, Russia's richest man.