Yugansk accounts for 60 per cent of Yukos oil output, while its reserves as a Yukos subsidiary are estimated at $30.4 billion.
On Monday, the Financial Times, quoting a source in the Russian government, reported that the Tax Ministry intends to forward against Yukos's main producing unit - Yuganskneftegaz - tax claims amounting to $3 billion.
The publication believes that these claims are a new pressure being exerted on Yukos to sell its subsidiary at a reduced price, which will be within the reach of Russian companies. On the other hand, the article does not specify the period for which claims may be made.
Experts believe this information is a new negative development in the "Yukos affair".
The considerable tax claims set to Yugansk while it is being evaluated is seen as a way of lowering its value.
It will be recalled that the main would-be buyers of Yukos's principal producing operation is, according to experts, Surgutneftegaz, Gazprom, and Rosneft. On the other hand, if Yugansk is to be sold at a fair price, which experts believe is $15-20 billion, then, as Sergei Oganesyan, head of the Federal Energy Agency, said, none of the Russian companies will be able to acquire it.
In the view of a Financial Bridge expert, Stanislav Kleshchev, the claims to Yugansk, rather than to Yukos, may be seen as an attempt to bring the price down. "At the same time it remains incomprehensible how a company that was subjected to transfer pricing and over the past 4 years has net profits according to RSBU (Russian accounting standards) totalling $360 million was able to save such a sum on taxes," notes Kleshchev.
In the opinion of IF Olma agency experts, information that the tax authorities view the possibility of putting tax claims against Yugansk may again lead to an appreciable fall in Yukos prices during the course of today's trading and bring down the entire stock market.
