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Glass houses
Dan Slater of the Wall Street Journal's Law Blog notes the Kremlin's recent refusal to grant parole to former OAO Yukos CEO Michael Khodorkovsky, who is serving an eight-year prison sentence in Siberia for tax evasion and fraud. Khodorkovsky's...
Not so fast, Mr. Eisenstat
As noted in a number of these previous posts, the Russian government's dismemberment and effective nationalization of the assets of OAO Yukos last year has dire implications generally for Western business interests hoping to engage in reasonably free commercial investment...
Here's one for the hedgies
Given the hedge fund theme today, it seems appropriate to note that the Russian state oil company Rosneft (previous posts here in connection with the Yukos chapter 11 case) is proceeding with its huge $10 billion initial public offering on...
The Yukos chapter 26 case?
Chapter 22 cases -- the nickname for successive but seperate reorganization cases under chapter 11 -- are uncommon, but certainly not unheard of. However, a chapter 26 case -- a reorganization under chapter 11 followed by a bankruptcy case in...
Gazprom looking for investors
This NY Times article reports on the Russian government's removal of the final restrictions on foreign equity investment in the state-controlled Gazprom, which is Russia's natural gas monopoly, Russia's largest company and the producer of a third of the world's...
The similarity of Russian and U.S. prosecutions of business figures
Former billionaire Russian oil magnate Mikhail Khodorkovsky was sentenced to nine years in prison yesterday by a Russian court in a case that businesspersons from around the world have followed carefully as a sign of the Russian government's willingness to...
This is not what the Chamber of Commerce had in mind
In the wake of dismantling former Russian oil giant OAO Yukos, the Russian government hammered British Petroleum PLC's Russian joint venture with new back-tax claims totaling about $790 million. The news did not do much for the already jittery capital...
Updating the Yukos case -- Yukos throws in the bankruptcy towel
Russian oil giant and former U.S. debtor-in-possession under chapter 11 OAO Yukos waved "good-bye" to the Houston federal courthouse yesterday by announcing that it would no longer pursue an appeal of U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Letitia Clark's decision last month that...
Updating the Yukos case -- Yukos continues to go for broke
Russian oil company and former United States debtor-in-possession OAO Yukos lost another round in its legal battle with its creditors Friday as U.S. District Judge Nancy Atlas declined to grant the company a stay under Fed. R. Bankr. P. 8005...
The high risk of conducting business in Russia
Earlier this year, the Yukos chapter 11 case in Houston highlighted the fact that governmental persecution is a risk of doing business in the still emerging capitalist markets of Russia. An incident yesterday underscored another risk of doing business in...
Updating the Yukos case -- Judge Clark dismisses chapter 11 case
U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Letitia Z. Clark dismissed OAO Yukos' controversial chapter 11 case yesterday, concluding that there is inadequate precedent for a major foreign oil company to gain the substantial legal protections of a debtor-in-possession under U.S. bankruptcy law. Here...
Updating the Yukos case -- Hearing on Motion to Dismiss cranks up
The hearing on whether Russian oil company and American debtor-in-possession OAO Yukos' chapter 11 case should be dismissed began on Wednesday in U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Letitia Clark's Houston courtroom as Hugh Ray, Deutsche Bank AG's lawyer, urged Judge Clark to...
Updating the Yukos case -- Yukos files $20 billion lawsuit
Russian oil company and American debtor-in-possession OAO Yukos filed a lawsuit seeking damages of $20 billion late Friday in Houston against Russian natural gas giant OAO Gazprom, its unit Gazpromneft, Baikal Finance and OAO Rosneft for playing a role in...
Kremlin tightens grip on oil and gas reserves
In a trend that has been developing over the past year in connection with the Russian government's handling of Russian oil giant OAO Yukos, the Russian government announced Thursday that foreign-owned oil and gas companies will not allowed to bid...
Updating the Yukos case -- Yukos shareholder sues Russian Government
Group Menatep Ltd. is the offshore entity under which jailed Russian billionaire Mikhail Khodorkovsky and several of his associates hold the controlling stake in Russian oil company and American debtor-in-possession OAO Yukos. Here are the previous posts on the fascinating...
Updating the Yukos case -- Yukos narrows its bank lawsuit
Wounded Russian oil company but American debtor-in-possession OAO Yukos has dismissed five banks from its tortious interference lawsuit that it has brought in federal court in Houston in connection with its pending chapter 11 case. Here are the previous posts...
Updating the Yukos case -- Will Yukos sue China?
As Russian oil giant OAO Yukos continues its attempt to maintain jurisdiction of its pending chapter 11 bankruptcy case in Houston, this report today confirms what had been suspected earlier -- i.e., that energy-driven China loaned Russia $6 billion secured...
Updating the Yukos case -- Judge Clark postpones Yukos discovery
U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Leticia Clark denied OAO Yukos' request Thursday to commence discovery in regard to its claims for damages against several international financial institutions and Russian entities pending a February 16th hearing on OAO Gazprom's motion to dismiss the...
The Putin Puzzle
The Wall Street Journal's ($) Holman Jenkins, Jr. finally weighs in on the Russian government's heavy-handed takeover of OAO Yukos, and he correctly notes that the Yukos case signifies the end of any hope that Russian president Vladimir Putin will...
Updating the Yukos case -- What is going on with Yugansk?
After announcing late last week that Yuganskneftegaz ("Yugansk") -- OAO Yukos' former primary production unit -- would not be transferred to state-controlled OAO Gazprom as anticipated, the Russian government announced over the weekend that Yugansk is now operating as a...
Updating the Yukos case -- Gazprom will not get Yugansk after all
In a surprise move, the Russian government announced Thursday that Yuganskneftegaz ("Yugansk") -- the main oil production unit of bankrupt Russian oil giant OAO Yukos -- will not be conveyed to to Russian gas giant OAO Gazprom as widely anticipated....
Updating the Yukos case -- Yukos defaults on huge loans
OAO Yukos, the Russian oil company wallowing in a chapter 11 case in Houston, had its credit-rating slashed to default status yesterday after it failed to make the interest payments on a $1 billion loan from a syndicate of western...
Updating the Yukos case -- Rosneft debt downgraded
OAO Rosneft, the Russian government-controlled oil company that has bought OAO Yukos' Yuganskneftegaz ("Yugansk") huge oil unit, has been put on credit watch by Standard & Poor's Ratings Services in a quintessentially Western financial assessment of the riskiness of the...
Updating the Yukos case -- Gazprom confirms control of Yugansk
Russian gas giant OAO Gazprom confirmed yesterday what everyone in the international oil and gas business suspected -- that it will control Yuganskneftegaz ("Yugansk"), which was formerly the main oil-production unit of OAO Yukos. Here are the earlier posts about...
Updating the Yukos case -- Rosneft buys Yugansk unit
Russian oil company OAO Rosneft announced today that it has acquired Baikal Finance Group, the purchaser of OAO Yukos' main production unit Yuganskneftegaz ("Yugansk") at a Russian government auction last Sunday. Here are the earlier posts covering the auction and...
Updating the Yukos case -- who is Baikal Finance?
Parties involved in the Yukos chapter 11 case on Monday were attempting to discover information regarding Baikal Finance Group, which was the obscure winner of Sunday's Russian government auction of the Yukos oil unit Yuganskneftegaz ("Yugansk"). Several news services reported...
Russian SPE wins Yukos auction
A special-purpose vehicle representing unknown Russian interests agreed to pay $9.34 billion for a controlling interest in Yuganskneftegaz ("Yugansk"), which formerly was Russian oil giant OAO Yukos' largest production asset. The interest purchased includes all of Yugansk's voting shares. Here...
Updating the Yukos case -- Gazprom appeals TRO
Gazprom, the Russian state-controlled natural gas giant, has appealed and requested a stay of a U.S. Bankruptcy Court's temporary restraining order that enjoins Western financial institutions from financing Sunday's scheduled government auction of Yukos' main production subsidiary Yuganskneftegaz ("Yugansk")in Moscow....
Fifth Circuit upholds vague Commodity Exchange Act reporting law
The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans issued this decision on Friday in the case of former Dynegy trader Michelle Valencia that upholds a controversial law that the Justice Department has used to charge a group of Houston...
Western bank backs off funding of Yukos auction bid
At least one Western bank participating in a consortium that was planning on financing up to $13 billion of Russian gas giant Gazprom's bid for the Yukos unit Yuganskneftegaz ("Yugansk") has decided to postpone its participation in the consortium as...
Western bank backs off funding of Yukos auction bid
At least one Western bank participating in a consortium that was planning on financing up to $13 billion of Russian gas giant Gazprom's bid for the Yukos unit Yuganskneftegaz ("Yugansk") have decided to postpone their participation in the consortium as...
Updating the Yukos case -- Judge Clark issues TRO
U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Letitia Z. Clark issued a temporary restraining order late Thursday enjoining the Russian government's auction in Moscow on Sunday of the main production subsidiary of Russia's OAO Yukos. Here are the earlier posts on the Yukos chapter...
Updating the Yukos case -- TRO hearing proceeding
On the heels of Yukos' chapter 11 filing late Tuesday in a Houston, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Letitia Clark will continue hearing testimony on Yukos' request for a temporary restraining order this morning. The TRO request is Yukos' last ditch attempt...
Russian oil giant files chapter 11 in Houston
The Russian Government is being challenged with the rule of law, United States Bankruptcy Code style. In a stunning development, embattled Russian oil giant Yukos has filed a chapter 11 case in Houston late Tuesday and requested a temporary restraining...
ConocoPhillips' ambitious Russia play
Houston-based ConocoPhillips announced earlier this week a $2.36 billion "strategic alliance" with Moscow-based OAO Lukoil under which Conoco will buy a 7.6% stake in the Russian oil company and get a share in joint projects. The deal provides Conoco access...
Yukos Oil bank accounts frozen
This NY Times article reports that Russian governmental officials ordered court bailiffs to take the extraordinary step of freezing Russian energy giant Yukos Oil's bank accounts and demanding payment of a $3.4 billion tax debt within five days. Here are...
Russian trial on capitalism
This NY Times article provides an excellent analysis of the trial of Mikhail B. Khodorkovsky, who, until his arrest eight months ago, was the chief executive of Russia's Yukos Oil, which he had transformed into one of Russia's biggest and...
Russian oil and gas majors
This NY Times article provides a good analysis of the the difficulty that Russia's largest oil and gas companies are having in translating their huge reserves into stature among the world's major oil and gas companies in the marketplace for...
Doing business in Russia -- not for the fainthearted
On the heels of this announcement regarding Russian oil giant Yukos' default on $1 billion in bank debt, this Wall Street Journal ($) article provides an excellent overview of Exxon's travails in attempting to make a major investment in Yukos....
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