Posted on 08/08/2007 2:01:28 PM PDT by familyop
MOSCOW (Thomson Financial) - A Moscow court has given the green light for the seizure of 100 pct of the shares of the Russian oil group Russneft, Russian news agencies reported, citing a Russian interior ministry statement.
'A Moscow court has approved the seizure of 100 pct of the shares of the company. Russneft shares have now been seized,' the statement said.
The ministerial press office was unavailable for comment.
The seizure follows a judicial procedure launched in January by the interior ministry's committee responsible for tax arrears.
Another Moscow court had found in favour of the Russian fiscal authorities against Russneft. The authorities demanded 3.7 bln roubles in tax arrears from the company for the 2003/2004 period.
Russneft has been through a turbulent few months. Its founder and owner, billionaire Mikhail Gutseriyev, issued a statement last week saying that he was resigning, and complained of being 'hounded' by the authorities, but retracted his comments a few days later.
Russneft is a major Russian oil company, and extracted 17 mln tonnes in 2006, and has estimated reserves of 630 mln tonnes. The company employs over 17,000 people.
tf.TFN-Europe_newsdesk@thomson.com
afp/lce/bsd/cmr
Ping.
Russia seized another oil company.
The old USSR is being reborn.
The US notion that strategic resources like oil should be privately owned is rare. Having briefly flirted with it, Russia is going back to what it knows, which is central control.
Too bad.
...related.
Why Russia should sell weapons to Iran and Syria
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1878354/posts
Putin’s mercantalism continues.
it never left, they just let all the whiners leave through Berlin...
Russia seized another oil company.==
It was russian company from start. Russia just took her property from hands of damn oligarkh thieves.
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