MOSCOW, August 20 (RIA Novosti) - A Moscow court rejected Monday jailed Yukos founder Mikhail Khodorkovsky's appeal against a court ruling to unfreeze the bankrupt oil company's assets to pay nearly $679 million in tax arrears.
"The Meshchansky Court's March 9, 2007 ruling to unfreeze oil company Yukos's assets and sell them to repay debts will remain in force and the appeal will be rejected," the judge said.
Khodorkovsky, who is serving an eight-year term on fraud and tax evasion charges, pressed in the appeal for the decision to be cancelled, citing his being not informed about proceedings on the issue.
Prosecutors in turn said the decision was legitimate, saying Khodorkovsky's presence at the proceedings was unnecessary in accordance with the Penal Code. The court upheld their argument.
Once Russia's largest oil company, Yukos was declared bankrupt August 1, 2006, after three years of litigation with tax authorities over arrears.
Through a series of liquidation auctions, Yukos has repaid around 400 billion rubles ($16 billion) to creditors.
The company's key production and refining assets have been bought up by Rosneft at or following auctions, making the state-controlled company one of the country's leading crude producers.
The liquidation of Yukos is widely seen as part of the Kremlin's drive to regain control over the country's oil and gas sector.
