By early December 2005, Yukos and its subsidiaries had paid a total of $21.3 billion "of the dubious tax claims presented by the Russian tax authorities," reducing its tax liabilities to $6.3 billion, it said in a statement.
But on December 27, tax authorities presented a new tax claim to Yukos for 2004 amounting to $3.5 billion.
"Of this sum, the tax claim proper is about 3 billion rubles (about $104 million). Penalties, sanctions and, remarkably, the demand to pay value added tax on exported products account for the rest of the amount," the press office said.
"The company does not recognize the unfounded $3.5 billion claim and sent relevant objections to the tax authorities on January 27. Taking into account the new tax claims, the tax bill demanded of Yukos by the authorities totals $9.8 billion," the company said.
