President's assistant on auction on YUKOS assets

If YUKOS assets are sold, the sales will be transparent, Russian President Vladimir Putin's assistant Igor Shuvalov believes. As he said, open auctions will be held. He stressed that the Russian Federal Property Fund has managed a number of transparent deals recently. The institution held open auctions, where mass media representatives were admitted. If it is necessary to sell Yuganskneftegaz or other YUKOS assets, all related procedures will be absolutely transparent, he stressed. Shuvalov declined to comment on the assessment of Yuganskneftegaz, saying that he has not seen all the documents.

However, Shuvalov expressed hope that YUKOS would recover and repay overdue taxes. So, the proposed selling of its assets will be unnecessary. He mentioned Russian President Vladimir Putin's announcement that YUKOS should not be split into pieces and remain as a single corporation.