The Menatep is holding more than a half of Yukos stock.
The guarantee may amount to a billion US dollars, an anonymous informant closer to Yukos stockholders said to Novosti: "The holders will go to all lengths to save the Yukos from bankruptcy."
The Taxation Ministry is demanding from the oil giant tax arrears at 99.4 billion roubles, roughly $3.5 billion. Semyon Kukes, Yukos board chair, appealed to holders last week for help to keep the company afloat unless the ministry agrees to have the payments in instalments.
The ministry is litigating with the Yukos over the sum. If it wins, the payments may come from recently unfrozen accounts of companies and persons related to the Yukos and Menatep, said the incognito.
If instalments are authorised, the Yukos will manage singlehanded, he went on. "The holders will do all they can to keep the Yukos afloat," the interviewee emphatically added.
As we previously announced, the Moscow Arbitration Court has appointed for June 18 hearings on the Taxation Ministry appeal for taxing the Yukos an extra 99.375 billion roubles for 2000. The appeal demands another 400,000 roubles. Whatever verdict the court will make, the first-instance court decision will enter into force with verdict publication.
The situation made Sergei Pepelyaev, Yukos lawyer, announce to the media, June 11, that the company was on the verge of ruination. "Beyond doubt, commercial creditors will demand their money back ahead of term, so the company may be broke within three or even two months," he warned.
