Yukos in credit default notice

Russia’s beleaguered Yukos oil company received notification of a default on $1bn (€811,817) in credit, the Interfax news agency reported today.

Company spokesman Alexander Shadrin, said Yukos received the notification from Societe Generale on Friday evening.

The company is facing a 99.4-billion-rouble (€1.54bn) back taxes claim, which Yukos has warned it cannot pay unless a court order freezing its assets is lifted.

Yukos, Russia’s biggest oil producer with output at about 1.72 million barrels a day, has warned that it faces bankruptcy if it cannot sell assets to pay the tax bill and if it is not allowed to stagger the payments.