RUSSIA: SHARES RISE AFTER RUSSIAN GOVERNMENT OFFICIAL HINTS AT REPRIEVE TO ALLOW YUKOS OIL COMPANY MORE TIME TO PAY TAX BILL

Record ID: 647331

  • Title: RUSSIA: SHARES RISE AFTER RUSSIAN GOVERNMENT OFFICIAL HINTS AT REPRIEVE TO ALLOW YUKOS OIL COMPANY MORE TIME TO PAY TAX BILL
  • Date: 6th July 2004
  • Summary: (W5) MOSCOW, RUSSIA (JULY 6, 2004) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 1. WIDE OF ALPHA BANK TRADING FLOOR WITH TRADERS 0.06 2. CLOSE OF TRADER LOOKING AT MONITOR 0.11 3. CLOSE-UP OF TRADER SPEAKING ON THE PHONE 0.18 4. WIDE OF TRADERS AT THEIR DESKS 0.23 5. WIDE OF OLEG MARTYNENKO, HEAD OF ALPHA BANK SHARE SALES TO RUSSIAN PORTFOLIO CLIENTS, AT HIS DESK 0.30 6. CLOSE OF TELEPHONE 0.35 7. SCU (SOUNDBITE) (English) OLEG MARTYNENKO, HEAD OF ALPHA BANK SHARE SALES TO RUSSIAN PORTFOLIO CLIENTS SAYING: "We don't see a lot of investors in this market, the market is very volatile, mostly there are speculators, and these speculators are waiting for the news. The positive news coming on YUKOS - the market is going up, like today we saw a 17 per cent up, almost 20 per cent up on YUKOS, when there is negative news obviously the market goes down. So they just playing on these fluctuations and nothing more." 0.58 (W5) GRAPHICS (JULY 6, 2004) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 8. YUKOS SHARES CHART SHOWING SPIKE IN PRICE ON NEWS OF POSSIBLE TAX COLLECTION DELAY 1.05 (W5) MOSCOW, RUSSIA (JULY 6, 2004) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 9. CLOSE OF "BEAR MARKET" MODEL 1.11 10. SCU (SOUNDBITE) (English) OLEG MARTYNENKO, HEAD OF ALPHA BANK SHARE SALES TO RUSSIAN PORTFOLIO CLIENTS SAYING: "Theoretically it might be considered as positive, but this is not a signal for investors to jump in, this is a signal for speculators. Investors would like to hear more, they would like to know what are terms and conditions of the settlement between the government and YUKOS if there is any." 1.28 11. VARIOUS OF OF TRADERS AT THE DESKS 1.35 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
  • Embargoed: 21st July 2004 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: MOSCOW, RUSSIA
  • Country: Russia
  • Reuters ID: LVA2PJFXDB0R06VZZ7XX5IJOJUN9
  • Story Text: Russian government official hints at YUKOS
    reprieve, shares rise.



    Russia's government said on Tuesday (July 6) it
    could give beleaguered oil giant YUKOS more time to pay off
    a huge bill for back taxes, sending the company's share
    price higher.

    The possible reprieve follows growing fears that a bill
    for $3.4 billion dollars in tax arrears, which must be paid
    by Wednesday night, could push YUKOS into bankruptcy and
    turn investors away from Russia.

    Russia's Deputy Finance Ministry Sergei Shatalov told
    reporters that YUKOS could get more time to pay.

    "To do this we need a request from YUKOS," he said "So
    far we haven't had one ... I cannot rule out that a
    decision on restructuring could be taken, because this is
    no ordinary case."
    His comments sent YUKOS shares, which have been
    tumbling for months, up by as much as 23 percent. By 0940
    GMT they were quoted up a net 7.5 percent at 200.55 roubles
    on the MICEX exchange.

    "Theoretically it might be considered as positive, but
    this is not a signal for investors to jump in, this is a
    signal for speculators. Investors would like to hear more,
    they would like to know what are terms and conditions of
    the settlement between the government and YUKOS if there is
    any," said Oleg Martynenko, head of share portfolio sales
    at Alpha Bank in Moscow.

    But Martynenko said the market was likely to remain
    volatile with an eye on further YUKOS developments.

    "We don't see a lot of investors in this market, the
    market is very volatile, mostly there are speculators, and
    these speculators are waiting for the news. The positive
    news coming on YUKOS - the market is going up, like today
    we saw a 17 per cent up, almost 20 per cent up on YUKOS,
    when there is negative news obviously the market goes down.

    So they just playing on these fluctuations and nothing
    more," said Martynenko.

    President Vladimir Putin has pledged not to destroy
    YUKOS, which accounts for nearly a fifth of Russia's oil
    output but its future looked bleak as courts have frozen
    the company's assets leaving it without the funds to honour
    the back-tax demands.

    The YUKOS case is widely seen as being orchestrated by
    the Kremlin to crush the political ambitions of the major
    YUKOS shareholder, billionaire Mikhail Khodorkovsky, who
    remains in jail while he stands trial on charges of tax evasion
    and fraud.



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