Home>News Center>World
             
     

    Police raid Russian oil giant's offices
    (Agencies)
    Updated: 2004-07-04 15:23

    Scores of plainclothes police searched for several hours Saturday through the headquarters of the Russian oil giant Yukos, beleaguered by a US$3.4 billion back taxes claim.

    The Interfax news agency reported that the search ended after the officers removed several boxes of documents. But company spokesman Hugo Erikssen said it was not clear what was taken away and could not confirm earlier reports that police had intended to take computer servers.

    No Yukos officials were in the building during the raid.

    "Why they had to come on a weekend ... that's a question we'd like to know," the spokesman said.

    The move came a day after a Moscow court refused to unfreeze the company's assets, making it impossible for the company to sell property in order to pay the back taxes bill and avoid insolvency.

    Prosecutors said, however, that Saturday's actions were connected to a criminal fraud and tax evasion case "against structures controlled by Yukos," Russian news agencies said. The reports said the matter was separate from the fraud and tax evasion cases pending against Yukos ex-CEO Mikhail Khodorkovsky and a close associate, Platon Lebedev.

    The Prosecutor-General's office refused to elaborate, but the statement appeared to refer to allegations of tax-dodging by Samaraneftegaz, Yukos' third-largest operating unit.

    Yukos also likely faces claims beyond the US$3.4 billion that a court upheld this week. News reports said the Tax Service is seeking another $3 billion for 2001 back taxes.

    Yukos has said it faces bankruptcy if it cannot sell assets to pay the tax bill and stagger the payments.

    With pressure intensifying, the future of Russia's biggest oil producer and its more than 100,000 employees was increasingly uncertain. Its ruin could tarnish Russia's image abroad and slow growth in the oil sector — the country's main cash earner and an industry that bolsters President Vladimir Putin's international clout.

    Some analysts have suggested the only way for the company to survive would be for Khodorkovsky and his partners to relinquish control. They hold control through involvement with the Menatep holding company, which is Yukos' largest shareholder, and through personally owned shares.

    For the past year, Khodorkovsky has been the focus of a complex probe that many analysts see as a Kremlin-driven effort to punish him for funding opposition parties and to stifle his purported political ambitions. He has been in jail since his dramatic arrest by gun-wielding special forces at a Siberian airport in October.

    The probe first gained wide public attention with Lebedev's arrest on July 2, 2004, while he was hospitalized.

    "Maybe this (raid) was a kind of celebration" of the arrest anniversary, the spokesman Erikssen said.



     
      Today's Top News     Top World News
     

    Summer harvest helps stabilize consumer prices

     

       
     

    Iraq militants claim beheading US Marine

     

       
     

    China-US trade relations face challenges

     

       
     

    Typhoon Mindulle kills 15 in Taiwan

     

       
     

    China opposes foreign interference in HK

     

       
     

    Ministry battles telecom price wars

     

       
      Yemen urges rebels to surrender as death toll rises
       
      Iraq militants claim beheading US Marine
       
      Japan's ruling party unlikely to gain upper house majority
       
      US general: I met Israeli interrogator in Iraq
       
      IAEA chief to visit Israel
       
      Israel army kills two near Nablus
       
     
      Go to Another Section  
     
     
      Story Tools  
       
      Related Stories  
       
    Russian YUKOS owner on trial 8 months after arrest
       
    Russia prosecutors say seized more YUKOS papers
      News Talk  
      Will Saddam Hussein get a fair trial?  
    Advertisement
             
    最近中文字幕高清字幕在线视频| 国产AV无码专区亚洲AV漫画| 曰韩精品无码一区二区三区| 久久久久久无码国产精品中文字幕| 亚洲国产午夜中文字幕精品黄网站| 国产精品无码午夜福利| 中文字幕精品视频在线| 在线综合亚洲中文精品| 日韩午夜福利无码专区a| 亚洲一区二区中文| 中文字幕 qvod| 国产免费黄色无码视频| 无码丰满少妇2在线观看| 日本乱偷人妻中文字幕在线| 亚洲国产成人精品无码久久久久久综合| 国产成人无码av| 亚洲电影中文字幕| 久别的草原在线影院电影观看中文| 无码专区天天躁天天躁在线| 中文字幕精品无码久久久久久3D日动漫| 中文字幕免费不卡二区| 精品久久久久久无码人妻热| 精品无码国产一区二区三区AV| 亚洲av永久无码精品国产精品| 最好看的最新高清中文视频| 最近中文字幕高清中文字幕无| 色综合天天综合中文网| 中文字幕乱妇无码AV在线| 久久人妻少妇嫩草AV无码蜜桃| 人妻无码视频一区二区三区| 亚洲AV区无码字幕中文色| 国产成人无码精品久久久性色 | 精品无码国产污污污免费网站 | 精品少妇人妻av无码久久| 亚洲av无码一区二区三区在线播放| 麻豆AV无码精品一区二区| 日韩亚洲欧美中文高清| 欧美麻豆久久久久久中文| 中文字幕一区二区三区5566| 制服丝袜日韩中文字幕在线| 亚洲AV无码一区二区三区牛牛|