#6 - JRL 7276
Russian Oil Company Denies Deal Faltering
August 4, 2003
MOSCOW (AP) - Russia's troubled oil giant Yukos on Monday denied media reports that its takeover of rival oil firm Sibneft was in jeopardy.
Media reports have cast doubt over the $3 billion takeover of Sibneft. The Russian Anti-Monopoly Ministry has not yet approved the deal, and prosecutors have launched a multifaceted investigation of Yukos.
Adding to the speculation, London's Sunday Times reported that U.S. oil company ChevronTexaco has offered to buy a 25 percent stake in Yukos should the merger with Sibneft fall through.
Yukos chief financial officer, Bruce Misamore, said the takeover of Sibneft was proceeding according to plan and that he would not give the ChevronTexaco report ``the dignity of any comment.''
Yukos agreed to purchase Sibneft in an April deal that would create one of the world's biggest oil concerns. But last month, prosecutors began a probe into Yukos shareholders, employees and daughter companies, fueling speculation that the Russian government will forbid the Sibneft takeover.
Yukos chief executive Mikhail Khodorkovsky, who is Russia's richest man and who has irritated the Kremlin with his interest in politics, has said the investigation is politically motivated and has nothing to with law and order.
The Anti-Monopoly Ministry is expected to make a decision later this month.
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