Foreign investors may be allowed to bid for the main asset of Russian oil major Yukos, Russia's privatisation agency said yesterday, amid speculation about a fire sale to settle Yukos's back taxes.
Mr Vladimir Zelentsov, director at the Russian Federal Property Fund, said there would be at least two participants in the auction of Yuganskneftegaz assets.
The fund has set a November 22nd date for an auction under a draft plan, according to the Interfax agency.
Quoting a source close to the fund, Interfax said the starting price for the auction could match the size of Yukos's debt - a fraction of the market valuation of Yugansk. The government is demanding $3.75 billion (€3 billion) from Yukos in back taxes.
Mr Zelentsov said foreign participation "has not been ruled out". He gave no details. Many analysts see Russian gas monopoly Gazprom or oil firm Surgut, both believed to be close to the Kremlin, as likely buyers of Yugansk assets.
Analysts said they doubted that foreign oil companies would be interested in bidding for Yugansk, for fear that Yukos's core shareholders may challenge the legality of the sale in court.
"I would be very surprised if a foreign company wanted it. The shares (in Yugansk) are radioactive," said Mr Matthew Thomas, an oil and gas analyst at Alfa Bank in London.
Yukos shares dropped 10 percent on Friday on speculation that the state may sell a controlling stake in Yugansk for as little as $4 billion.
Russia's Vedomosti business daily said that bailiffs collecting Yukos's $8 billion tax debt had issued a sale document for Yugansk that raised the possibility of a price tag significantly below Dresdner bank's valuation of $10.4 billion.
