Yukos Serves Notice: Assets protected under US law
Posted: 29 December 2004
Will pursue damages in excess of $20 billion
In advertisements to be placed this week, Yukos Oil Company will serve notice that the December 19 auction of Yukos' stock in Yuganskneftegas was a violation of United States bankruptcy law. If the sale of the stock is completed, it will damage Yukos in excess of US $20 billion. As is its right, Yukos will pursue all available legal avenues to recover damages from any person or entity that is involved in the illegal sale of these assets or any other assets covered in the company's bankruptcy filing.
The advertisements will be placed in Thursday's global editions of the Financial Times, Wall Street Journal, New York Times, and International Herald Tribune. The ads will also appear in Russia's dailies Izvestiya and the Moscow Times. (A full copy of the advertisement is attached and may also be viewed at www.yukosbankruptcy.com) Yukos' legal counsel committed to placing the advertisements during the bankruptcy court hearing last Wednesday in Houston.
United States law gives the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas in Houston, exclusive jurisdiction over the property of Yukos' Chapter 11 estate "wherever located." Under the law, an automatic stay went into immediate effect when the company filed for bankruptcy on December 14, 2004. The automatic stay protects the company's assets through the bankruptcy process. It prevents creditors from collecting claims (including tax claims) that arose prior to the bankruptcy filing or from taking "possession" or "control" of Yukos property covered under the filing.
The automatic stay and the Court's December 16 Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) barring the auction was violated when Gazpromneft and Baikal Finance Group participated in the auction on December 19. Even though the TRO expired last Sunday, the automatic stay remains in force indefinitely through the bankruptcy process and until lifted or amended by the Court. Though Baikal Finance Group, a previously unkonwn company, emerged as the winning bidder in the auction, days later its shares were transferred to or purchased by Rosneft, a government-owned oil company, itself set to be acquired by Gazprom.
In the notice, Yukos indicates that it will pursue all available legal avenues to recover damages against any person or entity who (1) participates, facilitates or finances the sale or purchase of the Stock, (2) interferes with Yukos employment relationships with its employees, (3) interferes with property of Yukos Chapter 11 bankruptcy estates and (4) attempts to collect form Yukos any claims that arose prior to Yukos' bankruptcy filing.
The Court has scheduled the next hearing on the Yukos bankruptcy for Thursday, January 6, 2005 in Houston, Texas.
For more information on the case see www.yukosbankruptcy.com.
Posted by Richard Price,
Editor EnergyME.com
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