Russia freezes Yukos' shares in Sibneft oil company

0 Comments | AFP, November, 2004

MOSCOW (AFP) — The battered Russian oil giant Yukos said a Moscow court had frozen its 34.5 percent stake in rival Sibneft, halting a reversal of their merger that would provide cash for Yukos to settle massive tax bills.

A Yukos official told AFP the court ruling took effect a week ago, but declined to comment further.

Sibneft, controlled by Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich who owns the Chelsea football club, is in the process of unwinding a merger with Yukos that was agreed before authorities launched an aggressive campaign against Russia's top oil producer last year.

Mainly based in London, Abramovich is believed to have kept on reasonable terms with the Kremlin, unlike Yukos founder Mikhail Khodorkovsky, who has been in jail for more than a year as...