Europe

Rosneft wins bid for Yukos oil

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2007-05-03 22:28

Russian oil giant Rosneft won a bid for the major oil assets of the bankrupt Yukos group in east Siberia on Thursday, which will make it the country's largest oil producer, reports said.

The state-controlled Rosneft will pay 175.7 billion rubles (6.8 billion U.S. dollars) for the cluster of assets, including oil production units of Tomskneft and East Siberian Oil and Gas Company. The starting price was set at 166.4 billion rubles (6.4 billion dollars).

Rosneft subsidiary Neft-Aktiv took part in the auction.

The sale will be followed next week by the auction of Samaraneftegaz, Yukos' last remaining large oil unit, the Moscow Times reported.

Yukos, once Russia's leading oil company, was declared bankrupt in 2006. It was largely dismembered by the state after failing to pay over 25 billion dollars in back taxes and fines. Its founder Mikhail Khodorkovsky was arrested in 2003 on tax fraud charges.