Sources inform “Globes” that most of the Jewish senior executives in Russian oil company Yukos, the world’s fourth largest oil company, have fled to Israel, and are staying at a hotel in the center of the country. Other Jewish executives have either been arrested in Russia, or have had their movements restricted there.
It was reported last week that Yukos shareholder Leonid Nevzlin had been resident in Israel for several weeks, and had submitted a request for Israeli citizenship. Several other Yukos senior executives joined Nevzlin last week, including Vladimir Dubov. Vasily Shaknovsky did not manage to leave Russia.
On the basis of informed Russian sources, ”The Wall Street Journal” reported today that Yukos controlling shareholder and CEO Mikhail Khodorkovsky, arrested 10 days ago in Russian on suspicion of fraud and tax violations, last week transferred the voting rights to most of his Yukos shares to Nevzlin.
Nevzlin himself owns 10-15% of Yukos. At current market value, his shares are worth 83-124 billion rubles ($2.75-4 billion). Today, Mikhail Khodorkovsky announced his resignation as Yukos CEO, saying he was sure that there were suitable people in the company who would replace him. It is believed that one of the comany executives who have fled to Israel may take the vacant CEO position.
At the end of last week, the prosecutors froze the 42% of Yukos owned by Khodorkovsky and his partners. Unfreezing the shares is likely to be a lengthy process, but the shares have not been nationalized or confiscated.
The prosecution asserts that the freezing of the shares most of which are owned by offshore companies outside Russia, is designed to guarantee the payment of $1 billion in damages, should Khodorkovsky and his colleagues be convicted of fraud and tax evasion.
Freezing the shares, however, has prompted concern in Russia and the West that the state might attempt to confiscate the shares. At stake is the control of an oil producer nearly the size of Exxon Mobil Corp.
Published by Globes [online] - www.globes.co.il - on November 3, 2003