A new legal obstacle to a deal on the Mazeikiu refinery has arisen after a new lawsuit was filed in Amsterdam by Yukos' bankruptcy supervisor.
According to Baltic News Service, Eduard Rebgun, a Moscow court-appointed supervisor of Yukos, filed a suit on April 18 with an Amsterdam court, asking it to block any sale of Yukos' Dutch-registered assets. Sources said that Rebgun has asked the court to ban Netherlands-registered Yukos International UK, holder of a 53.7 percent stake in Mazeikiu Nafta, and its holding company, Yukos Finance BV, to dispose of their assets without obtaining consent from the bankruptcy supervisor.
According to unofficial sources, Yukos President Steven Theede and several shareholders of the crippled Russian oil company met in Turkey on April 25 with Rebgun's representatives to discuss under what conditions the court-appointed manager could give permission to Yukos' Western-based management to sell the shares in Mazeikiu Nafta,
On Apr. 13 a New York bankruptcy court banned Yukos managers, including Steven Theede, Tim Osbourne, David Godfrey and Bruce Misamore, to hold talks and make any transactions with the assets of Yukos, its subsidiary or associated companies without the consent of temporary administrator. The court proposed on April 21 that the sides should meet and discuss an out-of-court settlement. (See story this page.)
A decision by Yukos management to ignore the prohibition imposed by the U.S. court might lead to personal punishment, lawyers said. Theede, a U.S. citizen, could only sign the agreement on the sale of a controlling interest in Mazeikiu Nafta with the consent of Eduard Rebgun, the temporary Yukos administrator appointed by the Moscow court.
