Moscow: A Moscow court declared oil firm YUKOS bankrupt on Tuesday, paving the way for the Kremlin and state oil firm Rosneft to carve up the remaining assets of what was once Russia's largest oil producer.
YUKOS, which was once Russia's biggest company and a major oil empire, immediately, said it would appeal the ruling. It follows a vote by YUKOS's creditors, dominated by the tax authorities and Rosneft, to ask the court to bankrupt the company, triggering its likely liquidation.
The creditors backed the assessment of YUKOS's receiver, Eduard Rebgun, who said the firm had liabilities of $18.3 billion but assets of only $17.7 billion.
They rejected a survival plan put forward by management, which said the firm was solvent to the tune of at least $20 billion. Rebgun has a year in which to pay off creditors by selling or re-floating the firm.
He said he would get to work immediately and not wait for YUKOS's appeal hearing. "YUKOS is a huge empire. There is no tradition to follow in Moscow. It's impossible to say when the sale will start," he told reporters at the court.
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