This petition was submitted in the framework of Yukos suit demanding that the auction on the sale of this package of shareholdings and the treaty on the sale of the Yukos main subsidiary's shares be recognized invalid and the damage worth over 324 billion rubles ($1 equals 28.09 rubles) inflicted by the auction be recovered. Besides, pre-trial hearings on this case were scheduled for June 16.
The respondents in the Yuganskneftegaz auction validity case are the Russian federal property management fund, Baikalfinancegroup, Rosneft, Gazpromneft, Gazprom and the Russian Finance Ministry. The plaintiff sees third parties in this case in the Finance Ministry's Moscow board, the federal bailiff service's Moscow board, the federal anti-monopoly service and the Yuganskneftegaz company.
The suit spells out numerous illegalities which were typical of the violent expropriation of our key asset-Yuganskneftegaz, said Yukos CEO Steven Theede. Yukos claims that due to the unjustified underrating of the starting price of Yuganskneftegaz shares and gross infringement on law during the announcement and holding of the bids, the auction should be recognized as invalid. The suit says that the Russian federal property management fund abused its powers when determining the terms of shares' marketing, which resulted in their sale at a price lower than the market one and lower than the assessed value estimated by the attracted assessors in the person of Dresdner Kleinwort Wassertstein.
The arrangement for and holding of the auction were marred by non-observance of the terms of its announcement, which prevented potential buyers from participation in the bids and resulted in neglect of the rules of the auction, and the direct and inadmissible interference by government bodies, says the document.
The Yuganskneftegaz shares were sold by the Russian federal property management fund on December 19, 2004 to make up for Yukos tax arrears for 2000 and 2001. It was Baikalfinancegroup that performed as a buyer and that was purchased by Rosneft several days later.
