The federal property fund will auction Yukos oil assets in Eastern Siberia and the Krasnodar Territory in Russia’s south, part of the liquidation of the bankrupt company. The sale of company’s oil assets will produces approximately 233,000 barrels of oil per day, which seems to strengthen the government’s hand as state-controlled energy companies are getting biggest benefit out of it. It is expected that oil giant OAO Gazprom will prevail the bid and its production capacity would increase by one-third. Analyst values Tomskneft at US$3.5 billion and the refineries at nearly US$2 billion. Yukos, once Russia’s largest oil company, declared bankrupt on August 1, 2006, after three years of litigation with tax authorities over the company’s tax arrears. Yukos, founder Mikhail Khodorkovsky proved guilty in fraud case and serving an eight-year prison term in Siberia, faces a $26.9 billion in claims from creditors. Auction will vanish Yukos’s Tomskneft completely from the business, as its network of green-and-yellow filling stations will change hands on May 10. Image: chinadaily via: iht