New tax claims hit Yukos shares

Shares in Russian major oil company Yukos dived 12 pc on Friday after it said a court order freezing its bank accounts over a $3.4 billion tax claim for 2000 posed a direct threat to its operations.

The slide brought losses in Yukos shares to more than 20 pc in two days, after Russian news agencies reported that tax authorities had hit Russia’s leading oil producer with a second tax demand for 2001, also for $3.4 bn. Yukos must pay the first fine by early next week but said it lacked the money, raising the prospect of a fire sale of its assets which could turn the oil firm into an empty shell.

Yukos shares slumped 12 pc on the MICEX exchange to 178 roubles, close to the two-year lows set in mid-June when ex-CEO Mikhail Khodorkovsky went on trial.

—(Reuters)