Yukos asked for extra $9bn

RUSSIA’S biggest oil exporter OAO Yukos Oil will ask shareholders to consider declaring bankruptcy to protect assets after the government this week demanded an extra $9 billion in back taxes.

“The situation is unsustainable, we can’t continue much longer,” Chief Executive Steven Theede said in Moscow. The board yesterday scheduled a December 20 shareholder vote on whether to file for protection from creditors or liquidate Yukos, he said.

Yukos’s outstanding tax bill is $14 billion, more than the company’s market value. A bankruptcy filing may help Yukos survive a 16-month battle with the authorities by preventing government-mandated asset sales and giving the company as long as two years to pay off debt.