The auction to sell off a 76.79 percent stake in Yuganskneftegaz has been scheduled for December 19, the Russian Federal Property Fund announced in a notification released Friday.
The starting price of the stake is set at 246,753,447,303 rubles, or 8.5 billion dollars. Forty-three ordinary Yuganskneftegaz shares will be available for sale in one lot, each with a face value of 177,889 rubles and 80 kopecks, the notification says.
Applications for participation in the auction are accepted November 19 through December 18. The bid increment will be the same throughout the auction, within the bracket of 1% to 10% of the starting price.
The Yuganskneftegaz stake to go under the hammer on December 19 is owned by Yukos, an embattled Russian oil giant. The Justice Ministry has made Yukos put its prize asset up for sale so that it will be able to repay its huge tax debt. The German bank Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein (DrKW), invited by the Russian government to evaluate Yuganskneftegaz, put a $10.4 bln price tag on the unit. Experts say this price is adequate and that it takes due account of the company's risks.
The top management of Yukos and its largest shareholder, Menatep, oppose the sale of Yuganskneftegaz.
