Yukos Trading Arm Faces Antimonopoly Charges

The prosecutor’s office in the Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk has instigated criminal proceedings against Yukos trading arm Yukos-M. The case was launched after the Zelenogorsk Electrochemical Plant apparently bought oil products from the firm at 35 percent over the market price. The price was considered to be in violation of antimonopoly law. The plant estimates the damage caused by the overpricing at about 1.7 million rubles (about $62,000), the aide of the district prosecutor, Yelena Pimenova, was quoted by Interfax news agency as saying. However, a Krasnoyarsk spokesman of Yukos-M, who was quoted by the agency, said no decision has been sent from the prosecutors as yet. In November 2004, the Krasnoyarsk directorate of the Federal Antimonopoly Service found that Yukos-M had violated competition laws because the firm had raised wholesale fuel prices. Since the beginning of 2004 the price of fuel supplied by Yukos enterprises across the Krasnoyarsk Territory have risen by 30 percent on average. On Feb. 28, Yukos-M brought a lawsuit to the Arbitration Court of the territory against the Federal Antimonopoly Service.