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| The taxman is tightening his grip on
Yukos |
Russian oil giant Yukos is stopping most of its exports to China,
saying that it cannot pay the transport costs.
The company, which pumps a fifth of Russia's output, is in dispute with
Russian authorities over tax demands and has had its bank accounts frozen.
Analysts said Yukos' action was a ploy designed to put pressure on the
Kremlin ahead of a visit to Moscow by China's Prime Minister Wen Jiabao.
The news helped push US light crude prices up 44 cents to $46.03 a
barrel.
London-traded Brent crude was 26 cents higher at $42.71 a barrel.
Yukos said it planned to trim about 400,000 tonnes a month, or 100,000
barrels a day, from its exports to China - roughly 1.5% of Chinese demand.
The move could mean a renewed surge in energy costs, given soaring
demand from China's booming economy, analysts said.
According to a Yukos spokesman, the company was suspending shipments to
China National Petroleum Company but 200,000 tonnes a month going to
Sinopec was "continuing so far", he said.
The decision was the result of "problems we are facing in paying our
export duties and railway fees, because our bank accounts are frozen", the
company said.
It has also been banned from selling assets to
meet the tax demands, while bailiffs
have threatened to dispose of a key production unit,
Yuganskneftegaz, at what Yukos says is a knock-down price.
The company has warned for weeks that the campaign to charge it $3.4bn
in back taxes for 2000 - with possibly similar amounts due for each of the
succeeding years - would lead to a cut in shipments.
The campaign is thought by many observers to amount to payback for the
political ambitions of its ex-chief Mikhail Khodorkovsky.
Mr Khodorkovsky was arrested last October, and is in jail while his
trial on fraud and tax evasion charges continues.
Cristopher Weafer of Alfa Bank said Yukos' move to cut supplies to
China was "deliberately provocative".
He said it would "severely embarrass President Putin in
front of the international community" after Mr Putin had publicly promised
that oil supplies from Russia would not be disrupted.
Stephen O'Sullivan of investment bank UFG agreed
that Yukos' actions were "politically motivated and aimed at drawing international attention" to the
company's problems.
(Agencies) | 
Updated: 2004-09-21 13:43