MOODY'S LOWERS YUKOS CREDIT RATING

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MOSCOW, November 13 (RIA Novosti) - International rating agency Moody's lowered Yukos oil company credit ratings from B2 to Caa2 and its issuer rating from B3 to Caa3, keeping them under review.

In an announcement published on Friday night, the agency states that the decision followed new tax claims against Yukos announced by the Russian Tax Ministry. The total amount of Yukos debt is estimated at about $17 billion. The company claims that it has already paid $3.5 billion.

The agency points out that the recent developments in Yukos case had a negative impact on the company and might cause the total amount of debt surpass the value of Yukos main asset - Yuganskneftegaz.

The lowering of Yukos oil company credit rating implies both the possibility of elimination of all debts before creditors and the high probability of company's default. The agency sates that a large part of debt consists of debt servicing charges on the amount of $2.6 billion secured by export revenues and guaranteed by some of the main production assets of the company, including Yuganskneftegaz.

The lowering of the issuer rating to Caa3 reflects the fact that the total amount of debt claims against Yukos, as well as rather high potential of the return of secured loans leaves only a slight possibility of the return of unsecured loans.

The agency points out that the conclusions were not based on the forecast of the results of the upcoming Yukos shareholders meeting on December 20, which will discuss the possibility of Yukos bankruptcy, because these results will not change the creditor's situation while the amount of debt claims against the company remains the same.

Moody's left Yukos ratings under review. In addition, the agency announced that Yukos had not published full financial reports since fiscal year 2002, which made the evaluation of company's finances difficult.

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