Yukos seeks court action on sale

Yukos will return to a US court on Wednesday to seek sanctions against Baikal Finance Group, the little-known firm which has bought its main asset.

Yukos has said it will sue Baikal and others involved in the sale of Yuganskneftegas for $20bn in damages. Yukos' US lawyers will attempt to have Baikal assets frozen after the Russian government ignored a US court order last week blocking the sale. Baikal's background and its motives for buying the unit are still unclear.

Russian newspapers have claimed that Baikal - which bought the Yuganskneftegas production unit for $9.4bn (261bn roubles, £4.8bn) on Sunday at a state provoked auction - has strong links with Surgutneftegas, Russia's fourth-biggest oil producer. Many observers believe that the unit, which produces 60% of Yukos' oil output, could ultimately fall into the hands of Surgutneftegas or even Gazprom, the state gas firm which opted out of the auction.

The Russian government forced the sale of Yukos' most lucrative asset as part of its action to enforce a $27bn back tax bill it says the company owes. Yukos' US lawyers claim the auction was illegal because the firm had filed for bankruptcy and therefore its assets were now under the protection of US bankruptcy law which has worldwide jurisdiction. On Wednesday, Yukos will also seek further legal remedies to prevent the break-up of the group. "We believe the auction was illegal and we intend to pursue all legal recourses available to us," Yukos spokesman Mike Lake told Agence France Press. "If it exports that oil, it will be marketing a stolen product," he added. The future ownership of Yuganksneftegas remains unclear amid widespread suggestions that Baikal was established as a front for other interests.

Speaking on Tuesday, President Putin said Baikal was owned by individual investors who planned to build relationships with other Russian energy firms interested in the development of Yuganskneftegas. President Putin also suggested that China's National Petroleum Corporation could play a role in the unit's future after signing a commercial agreement with Gazprom to work on joint energy projects. Yukos has claimed that the sale of its main asset will lead to the collapse of the company. Commentators and Yukos itself claim the firm is the target of a government campaign to destroy it because of the political ambitions of its founder, Mikhail Khodorkovsky.