Russia's Yukos will be able to produce and sell oil until the end of September and is trying to avoid filing for bankruptcy for as long as possible, its chairman Viktor Gerashchenko said today.
'I don't expect the company to have any problems producing, refining and selling oil until the end of September. What will happen when everyone comes back from holiday, I don't know,' Gerashchenko said.
'Our internal sources tell us - and as you know there have been no state secrets for several years - there is an order to let Yukos fulfil all its internal and external contracts in the near term.'
Yukos is struggling to pay a $3.4 billion back-tax claim as bailiffs skim revenues from its bank accounts, raising fears that it might have to stop pumping oil.
'The company will avoid bankruptcy for as long as possible,' Gerashchenko said.
His remarks appeared to contradict a statement by Yukos's Chief Financial Officer Bruce Misamore, who was quoted in the Financial Times today as saying that the company may file for bankruptcy within days.
A judicial onslaught against Yukos and its founder Mikhail Khodorkovsky, who fell foul of the Kremlin and is now on trial on charges of tax evasion, has brought the company to its knees.
Gerashchenko, a former central bank governor who nows chairs the Yukos board, said the government was keen to let high oil revenues boost the balance of payments and finance the budget while prices were at record highs.
He also said Yukos had domestic supply contracts to fulfil and the government was at pains to ensure stable fuel supplies during the harvest season. The fate of Yukos itself is still under negotiation, he said, adding: 'I think good sense will prevail.'
Market speculation has centred on a possible sale or transfer of production assets to a state company such as Rosneft, an oil company, or gas monopoly Gazprom. Privately held Surgutneftegaz, with its large cash reserve, has also been seen as a contender for YUKOS assets.
