Yukos president quits

The president of the embattled Russian Yukos oil company, Steven Theede, announced his resignation in a letter released today just hours ahead of a meeting of creditors that could decide to liquidate the company.

Theede said he had “exhausted all possibilities … to either preserve or recover value for the company as a result of the expropriation of Yuganskneftegaz,” referring to the giant West Siberian production unit that was sold at a disputed auction in 2004 against Yukos’ crippling, multibillion-dollar back tax claims.