U.S. Protests Sale of YUKOS Unit

[happynewyear]

<< WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Bush administration on Tuesday protested Russia's auction of YUKOS's main oil production unit and warned it could have a "chilling effect" on foreign investment in Russia.

"We are disappointed that Russia went ahead with the auction of the YUKOS (YUKO.MM) subsidiary," White House spokesman Scott McClellan told reporters.

President Bush (news - web sites) could raise the issue when he meets on Feb. 24 in the Slovak Republic with Russian President Vladimir Putin (news - web sites). "The president does bring up the concerns that we have when he meets with President Putin," McClellan said.

The spokesman's toughly worded statement on YUKOS stood in contrast to Bush's pledge on Monday not to let disputes get in the way of good relations with Putin, a key ally in the war on terrorism.

Putin threw his weight behind the controversial sale of top oil firm YUKOS' core asset, Yugansk, on Tuesday despite a threat from the stricken company to escalate its legal battle in foreign courts.
Putin did not identify the owners of Baikal Finance, which was unknown before it acquired Yugansk in Sunday's auction. The sale of the unit was ordered to raise funds to help pay YUKOS' $27.5 billion back-tax bill. >>


http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=568&e=3&u=/nm/20041221/bs_nm/bush_yukos_dc

I believe that this is a serious problem if not magnanimous already. It doesn't qualify for LBN that I am aware of but the words that I have bolded above give your the gist of *'s message.