Embattled Russian oil giant Yukos filed for US bankruptcy protection today in a last-ditch attempt to prevent the auction of its main asset Yuganskeneftegaz, which is to be sold by the state on Sunday.
Yukos, accusing Russian authorities of illegal action against it, said it had asked US legal authorities to block the sale of Yuganskeneftegaz, arguing that this would 'cause it immediate and irreparable harm'.
The company said in a statement that it had asked a Texan court for an emergency hearing and a temporary restraining order, adding that it had filed a claim in the US because US bankruptcy law had worldwide jurisdiction.
Russia's top oil producer said it wanted a preliminary injunction to halt the sale and to compel the Russian authorities to arbitrate the company's claims of billions of dollars in damages.
Yukos, which has been the target of a judicial onslaught by the state for a year and a half widely seen as directed by the Kremlin, has been slapped with massive back tax claims totalling some $26 billion.
Russia plans on Sunday to auction off 76.8% of Yuganskneftegaz, which produces more than a million barrels of crude a day for Yukos, to raise money to pay off some of the billions in tax demands.
The starting price for Yugansk, which accounts for 60% of Yukos oil production, has been set at $8.65 billion and state-controlled Russian gas monopoly Gazprom is seen as the likely winner of the auction.
Yukos founder and chief shareholder Mikhail Khodorkovsky, who had lobbied against state oil interests and funded opposition parties ahead of last year's parliamentary vote, has been in detention since October 2003 on fraud and tax evasion charges. The billionaire tycoon faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted.
