Ceilidh

Michael Zey
futurist3000@aol.com

.c The Associated Press

MOSCOW (AP) - The board of Russia's embattled oil giant Yukos will halt crude supplies to Baltic refinery Mazeikiu Nafta until the end of the year, the Interfax agency reported Monday - just hours after Yukos confirmed a similar move involving a Chinese company.

The cash-strapped company is fighting to pay off some $7 billion in back taxes for 2000 and 2001, and has repeatedly warned that bankruptcy or a production stoppage are imminent. Most of its bank accounts and assets have been frozen by the Russian government.

Interfax later cited a Yukos spokesman as saying that the Lithuania-based refinery's production program would be met. The news agency didn't explain the discrepancy.

No Yukos spokesmen could be reached for comment by The Associated Press.

Citing the Prime-Tass Agency, Dow Jones Newswires reported that the refinery, which is 53.7 percent owned by Yukos, planned to refine 8 million metric tons of oil and export 10 million tons of petroleum products in 2004.

Earlier Monday, Yukos confirmed it was halting rail shipments to China National Petroleum Corp., a move that would reduce its exports by 100,000 barrels per day.

The company denied allegations that its decision to halt shipments to CNPC was politically motivated, but analysts noted the decision coincides with a planned visit by China's prime minister starting Wednesday. Dow Jones Newswires reported that CNPC was in negotiations with Yukos to restart the flow, though Yukos would not confirm that.

The complex web of legal cases against Yukos and its jailed owner, billionaire Mikhail Khodorkovsky, is seen as politically motivated punishment for Khodorkovsky's perceived political ambitions. The Kremlin has cast the affair as a clampdown on shady business practices.

On Monday, U.S.-traded PetroChina shares rose 35 cents to close at $52.60 on the New York Stock Exchange.

(Corrects writethru sequence; updates with closing stock price.)



09/20/04 17:08 EDT
   
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