RUSSIA’S finance minister rebelled yesterday against Vladimir Putin’s plan to make President Dmitry Medvedev his prime minister if he returns to the Kremlin by saying he would not serve in the next government.

The curtain finally fell on the shattered Yukos oil empire today, with a mysterious auction providing a dramatic conclusion to the politically charged, four-year demise of the company that was once Russia’s biggest oil producer.

President Vladimir Putin, meeting with EU leaders on Friday, will seek to advance Russia’s economic interests in Europe, defend its handling of foreign investors in its major oil and gas projects and deflect criticism of its heavy-handed response in a dispute with Georgia.

His name may be taboo in the Kremlin, but jailed Yukos oil company founder Mikhail Khodorkovsky will hover in spirit over a meeting tomorrow between President Vladimir Putin and BP Chief Executive Lord Browne.