Russia's beleaguered oil giant Yukos broke ties Monday with the last of six core shareholders who once controlled the company but are now all facing jail or exile in what many see as a politically-driven campaign.
Yukos said in a statement posted on its Web site that it had dismissed Mikhail Brudno as president of Yukos RM, the company's refining and marketing arm.
Brudno, who owns more than 3 percent of Yukos, was charged last month with embezzlement, joining the other five core company shareholders being pursued by the legal authorities either in Russia or abroad in exile.
"Being guided by a Yukos board of directors recommendation that no shareholders should interfere in the company's operational management, the Yukos management board adopted a decision today to relieve Mikhail Brudno of his duties as president of Yukos RM and as a member of the management board," the statement said.
Yukos, Russia's largest oil producer, has been in prosecutors' firing line since June and its main shareholder and Russia's richest man, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, was jailed in late October on fraud and tax evasion charges.
Deputy chairman of the board Yury Beilin said in an interview published Monday that "in order to preserve the company" Yukos would restrict "the participation of Yukos employees or resources in any political or other activities of shareholders."
Khodorkovsky resigned as chief executive in November. The second-biggest shareholder, Leonid Nevzlin, who is in Israel, has been financing the election campaign of a liberal opposition candidate in March presidential elections.
Beilin also told the Vedomosti business daily that the company was likely to reduce its dividend payments. Yukos approved a record US$2 billion dividend payout in October last year.
"The management has suggested to the board of directors that we reassess our dividend policy this year to take into account the additional risks which require establishing a financial reserve," he added.
Another company manager told the daily on condition of anonymity that Yukos would now stop using aggressive tax minimization schemes.
Yukos has been hit with a US$3.4 billion tax bill by the fiscal authorities who claim the company misused tax loopholes to evade taxes.
The attack on Yukos is widely seen as politically motivated after Khodorkovsky angered President Vladimir Putin by financing opposition parties before December parliamentary elections, in which pro-Kremlin forces eventually triumphed.
"The board of directors has to do everything it can to remedy the situation," commented Valery Nesterov, an analyst from Troika Dialog brokerage.
"That's why they are trying to build up protection and keep the company intact, by putting distance between them and shareholders," he added.
AIR DEFENSE: The Norwegian missile system has proved highly effective in Ukraine in its war against Russia, and the US has recommended it for Taiwan, an expert said The Norwegian Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems (NASAMS) Taiwan ordered from the US would be installed in strategically important positions in Taipei and New Taipei City to guard the region, the Ministry of National Defense said in statement yesterday. The air defense system would be deployed in Taipei’s Songshan District (松山) and New Taipei City’s Tamsui District (淡水), the ministry said, adding that the systems could be delivered as soon as the end of this year. The US Defense Security Cooperation Agency has previously said that three NASAMS would be sold to Taiwan. The weapons are part of the 17th US arms sale to
SERIOUS ALLEGATIONS: The suspects formed spy networks and paramilitary groups to kill government officials during a possible Chinese invasion, prosecutors said Prosecutors have indicted seven retired military officers, members of the Rehabilitation Alliance Party, for allegedly obtaining funds from China, and forming paramilitary groups and assassination squads in Taiwan to collaborate with Chinese troops in a possible war. The suspects contravened the National Security Act (國家安全法) by taking photos and drawing maps of key radar stations, missile installations and the American Institute in Taiwan’s headquarters in Taipei, prosecutors said. They allegedly prepared to collaborate with China during a possible invasion of Taiwan, prosecutors said. Retired military officer Chu Hung-i (屈宏義), 62, a Republic of China Army Academy graduate, went to China
INSURRECTION: The NSB said it found evidence the CCP was seeking snipers in Taiwan to target members of the military and foreign organizations in the event of an invasion The number of Chinese spies prosecuted in Taiwan has grown threefold over a four-year period, the National Security Bureau (NSB) said in a report released yesterday. In 2021 and 2022, 16 and 10 spies were prosecuted respectively, but that number grew to 64 last year, it said, adding that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) was working with gangs in Taiwan to develop a network of armed spies. Spies in Taiwan have on behalf of the CCP used a variety of channels and methods to infiltrate all sectors of the country, and recruited Taiwanese to cooperate in developing organizations and obtaining sensitive information
BREAKTHROUGH: The US is making chips on par in yield and quality with Taiwan, despite people saying that it could not happen, the official said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) has begun producing advanced 4-nanometer (nm) chips for US customers in Arizona, US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo said, a milestone in the semiconductor efforts of the administration of US President Joe Biden. In November last year, the commerce department finalized a US$6.6 billion grant to TSMC’s US unit for semiconductor production in Phoenix, Arizona. “For the first time ever in our country’s history, we are making leading edge 4-nanometer chips on American soil, American workers — on par in yield and quality with Taiwan,” Raimondo said, adding that production had begun in recent
RSS