friendly buyer at a price below its value. The statement comes just over a year after Yukos founder Mikhail Khodorkovsky was arrested on charges including fraud and tax evasion. His trial and the mounting tax claims against Yukos are widely seen as a Kremlin-backed campaign to punish the billionaire for what was his growing clout and take Russia's largest oil producer out of his hands. President Vladimir Putin, who has strengthened the Kremlin's control over the country in five years at the helm, is seen as eager to reclaim lost state influence in the important and lucrative energy sector. "The game starts now _ it's going to come to and end one way or the other," said Chris Weafer, chief strategist at Moscow's Alfa Bank. "People had assumed Putin was frustrated and wanted to bring it to an end by end of year. The question now is how much it is sold for and whether this covers the tax bill," Weafer said. Weafer said he expected a buyer would need to have Kremlin affiliations and therefore protection against the lawsuits Yukos has promised any company that purchases Yuganskneftegaz. Among companies considered potential buyers are the state-connected natural gas giant Gazprom and Surgutneftegaz, which also has Kremlin ties, but Gazprom on Friday reiterated repeated denials that it will buy Yukos assets. Yukos faces total tax claims of US$18.4 billion (¤14.1 billion) for 2000-2002 and expects a claim for 2003 as well. An investment bank that evaluated Yuganskneftegaz after the Russia Justice Ministry said it would be sold, Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein, estimated its value at between US$14.7 billion (¤11.5 billion) and US$17.3 billion (¤13.6 billion). --more 1422 Local Time 1122 GMT
