Shares in Russian oil major OAO Rosneft (ROSN.RS) fell as much as 4% on Wednesday, following a news report that a court injunction won by now-bankrupt Yukos could jeopardize the company's crude exports.
Shares in Russian oil major OAO Rosneft (ROSN.RS) fell as much as 4% on Wednesday, following a news report that a court injunction won by now-bankrupt Yukos could jeopardize the company's crude exports.

Yukos--Russia's biggest oil producer until it was bankrupted by the government and sold off in pieces to Rosneft--has won an injunction in the U.K. and U.S. courts, which could complicate payments to Rosneft and "deadlock" exports, Reuters reported earlier Wednesday, citing industry sources and traders.

At 1540 GMT, Rosneft's shares had regained some of their earlier losses and were trading down 1.9% at 233.18 rubles ($7.9) each on the Micex in Moscow .

Rosneft declined to comment.

Yukos, once Russia 's largest oil producer, was seized by Russian authorities allegedly for unpaid taxes. Its assets were auctioned off at bargain prices to state-owned Rosneft. Yukos Chief Executive Mikhail Khodorkovsky and other company officials were arrested and imprisoned.

The injunctions against Rosneft were issued within the last two months and relate to a decision made last year in a Dutch court, which ordered the company to pay $389 million to Yukos Capital, a former indirect subsidiary of Yukos, Reuters said.

"I don't think this could affect the company's exports," said Chirvani Abdoullaev, analyst at Alfa Bank. Rosneft already holds the funds on its balance sheet as a liability and could solve the problem by simply paying the sum ordered by the Dutch court.

"Under a worst case scenario, Rosneft would just pay the money," said Abdoullaev.

The potential amount subject to injunction is less than 1% of the company's total exports and "is not significant for the company's valuations," analysts from VTB Capital said.

Rosneft's share price more than doubled last year, but the stock has remained under pressure since January, when the Finance Ministry suggested canceling a decision made last year to exempt 22 oil fields in East Siberia from export duty. Rosneft last year launched production at its huge Vankor field in East Siberia .

"By itself, the Yukos issue isn't negative for the company, but combined with the uncertainty over East Siberian taxes, it definitely hurts sentiment," said Alfa Bank's Abdoullaev.

Διαβάστε ακόμα