Russian State Oil Giant Buys Yukos Assets

Yukos headquarters in Moscow today (AFP) May 3, 2007 -- Neft-Aktiv, a subsidiary of the state-owned oil giant Rosneft, has bought several key assets of the bankrupt Yukos oil group for $6.8 billion at an auction.

The purchase of Yukos's production and refining units makes Rosneft the largest oil producer in Russia.

Yukos, once Russia's largest oil firm, was driven into bankruptcy after it was hit with billions of dollars in back taxes. Its chief executive, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, was jailed on fraud and tax-evasion charges.

(AP, AFP)