A representative of Sibneft, Russia's fifth largest oil producer, confirmed that the shares had been released and already distributed among Sibneft's major shareholders.
On November 3, 2004, the court ordered a seizure of the shares to compensate for damages that Irina Golub, the chief accountant of the Yukos FBTs open joint stock company, had inflicted on the state through tax evasion from 2000-2003.
Shareholders of Sibneft and Yukos announced the companies' merger complete on October 3, 2003. The merger partly involved Yukos' new issue of shares, which was replaced by a 57.5% stake in Sibneft. Another 14.5% of Sibneft securities covered 8.8% of Yukos shares, and a 20% stake in Sibneft was acquired for $3 billion. As a result of the deal, Yukos gained 92% of Sibneft shares, with the latter holding a 26% stake in Yukos. Later, the merger deal was canceled.
In March 2004, Moscow's arbitration court voided the additional issue of Yukos shares, which had covered the 57.5% stake in Sibneft, thereby returning the shares to Sibneft's major shareholders.
An arbitration court of the Chukot autonomous area ordered Yukos to return 14.5% of Sibneft shares to its major shareholders in exchange for 8.8% of its own securities, which allowed Sibneft's shareholders to resume control of its 72% stake.
