The sale of the embattled Yukos oil giant's main production unit, Yuganskneftegaz, could settle the company's outstanding back-tax bill, Russian newspapers quoted a top economic adviser to Russian President Vladimir Putin as saying in their Thursday editions. "We do not want to see the bankruptcy of Yukos. The sale of (Yuganskneftegaz) could resolve the tax problem," the daily Nezavisimaya Gazeta quoted Putin aide Igor Shuvalov as saying in Brazil, where he was preparing for Putin's upcoming visit. Izvestia also reported that Shuvalov said the sale of Yuganskneftegaz could cover the around US$14 billion (¤10.7 billion) in back-tax claims the company has yet to pay. Russia's Justice Ministry had earlier announced that it would sell the west Siberian production unit _ which pumps about 1 million barrels per day, more than 60 percent of Yukos' oil _ based on a US$10.4 billion (¤7.9 billion) valuation. The investment bank that evaluated Yuganskneftegaz, Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein, called the US$10.4 billion figure "overly conservative," and the ministry's announcement fueled investors' fears that the unit could be sold into Kremlin-friendly hands at a knockdown price. The grueling legal campaign against Yukos and its jailed founder and ex-CEO Mikhail Khodorkovsky on separate tax and fraud charges is seen as a Kremlin response to Khodorkovsky's growing political clout and an attempt to assert the state's influence in the politically vital energy sector. Yukos managers said earlier in the week that the company faces total tax claims of US$18.4 billion (¤14 billion) for the 2000-2002 period and expects more for 2003. Yukos has so far paid US$3.9 billion (¤2.9 billion) of the total, according to managers.
