YUKOS confirms information about claims of overdue taxes faced by Yuganskneftegaz

YUKOS has confirmed earlier released information about its major oil producing subsidiary Yugansknaftegaz' facing claims of RUR97.1bn (about USD3.35bn) in overdue taxes for 2001 and 2002. As press secretary of the beleaguered oil giant Alexander Shchadrin said, YUKOS' wholly owned subsidiary Yuganskneftegaz has received a corresponding notification from the Russian Tax Ministry. The Ministry claims that the company owes RUR67.5bn (about USD2.32bn) in back taxes for 2001 and RUR29.6bn (about USD1bn) for 2002. Shchadrin declined to confirm the information of YUKOS' facing new claims of overdue taxes worth RUR193bn (about USD6.65bn). However, he has not denied it.