| News Stories - Russian oil giant faces bankruptcy |
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Western Siberia
is the heart of Russia's oil industry.
In Nefteyugansk - population a hundred thousand - there's an atmosphere
of gloom about the fate of Yukos. Russia's most successful, profitable
oil firm provides the city's lifeblood.
Dotted across the waterlogged expanse
of the Siberian plain are oil wells and burning gas flares belonging
to Yukos' local production unit.
Now, the oil giant has warned that
if the Russian government seizes
and sells its production arm here, Yukos will be
forced into bankruptcy within three weeks. Local oil workers
see little hope for Yukos' survival. They know their wells pump
out two thirds of Yukos' oil supplies.
Yukos says it may be illegal for the government to seize its
most valuable asset, worth an estimated
thirty billion dollars - ten times more than the tax demand it's
been given. The firm says it has written to the government eleven
times asking for assets and accounts to be unfrozen so it can
settle the tax bill but has received
no reply. It's now warning that oil production and exports from
Russia might be harmed.
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the heart of: the main part of
profitable: money-making
provides the city's lifeblood:
here, employs a lot of people who live in the city
waterlogged expanse: large areas
of land under water
oil giant: a very big oil production
company
seizes: takes control over
forced into bankruptcy: made insolvent,
unable to pay debts
asset: if something is an asset,
it has value or possesses a useful quality
estimated: approximate
settle the tax bill: pay the debt
owed in tax
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