The decision by a Houston judge to dismiss a bankruptcy filing by Russian oil firm Yukos has removed legal barriers for a merger between Russian national oil company Rosneft and Gazprom, the state-backed gas monopoly.
The planned merger was put on ice after Rosneft last year bought Yuganskneftegas - the main production unit of Yukos - which was placed under court injunction by the Houston judge.
Initially, the asset was supposed to go to Gazprom, but the court injunction forced the Russian gas monopoly to pull out of the auction and to disassociate itself from Rosneft's acquisition.
Yukos filed for bankruptcy protection in the US in December in a controversial attempt to block the sale of Yugansk, which was seized by the Russian authorities to settle part of a disputed $27.5 billion (€20.8 billion) tax claim. However, Judge Letitia Clark on Thursday upheld a challenge by Deutsche Bank against the bankruptcy filing. The bank had planned to fund Gazprom's bid for Yukos's main operating asset.
But the judge said that the importance of Yukos to the Russian economy meant the dispute was best heard "in a forum in which the participation of the Russian government is assured".
The ruling removes the barriers for a merger between the two companies, said Mr Sergei Kuprianov, Gazprom spokesman.
However, observers believe the US court injunction was only a formal barrier to the merger. They say a more serious obstacle was the disagreement between the bosses of Rosneft and Gazprom.
Rosneft is chaired by Mr Igor Sechin, a secretive deputy head of the Kremlin administration who is widely believed to be behind the attack on Yukos.
It is believed Mr Sechin, a member of the Siloviki clan, which consists mainly of former security services men, is keen to preserve as much autonomy as possible and does not want his company rolled into Gazprom.
This pitches Mr Sechin against the management of Gazprom and more liberal members of the Russian government who see the merger with Rosneft as a necessary condition for increasing a government stake in Gazprom and removing restrictions on foreign investors to buy shares in the gas monopoly.
The ruling came on the day Mr Mikhail Khodorkovsky, the former chief executive of Yukos and its key shareholder, denounced his trial for fraud and tax evasion, calling the charges brought against him fiction and lies.
"I am innocent of all charges brought against me. I categorically object to a criminal, fictitious interpretation of normal business activity," Mr Khodorkovsky said from a cage in court.
