Yukos has a monopoly on providing Russian oil to China. It has a 6-9% share in China's imports. The interest of Chinese companies in Russian oil is so high that they are ready to fund rail transit for it across Russia, the newspaper reports. However, the Chinese have distanced themselves from the oil major's assets. "The Yukos problem is Russia's internal affair," the press service of the Chinese embassy in Moscow reports. "The Chinese side has no intention of interfering. We are confident that this problem will not negatively affect energy co-operation between China and Russia."
Moreover, in his remarks at a session of a Russian-Chinese intergovernmental sub-commission yesterday, Minister of Industry and Energy Viktor Khristenko stressed that a programme was being worked out to develop gas deposits in Eastern Siberia and the Far East, and pointed to the prospects for co-operation with China.
