Morgan Chase Estimated Yukos Unit

American investment bank JP Morgan Chase has carried out an assessment of the value of Yuganskneftegaz, the core production unit of beleaguered oil giant Yukos and sent its conclusions to the embattled firm.

According to unknown sources, Yukos had received the assessment, which it commissioned itself, but did not state what value JP Morgan Chase had placed on Yuganskneftegaz, estimated to be $$14.7 -17.3 billion. A Yukos spokesman would neither confirm nor deny the report.

Russian authorities announced plans to sell the unit to secure payment of back taxes and penalties for a period of 4 years that could run as high as $14 billion that the government asserts are owed by Yukos.

The independent evaluations of the unit came amid concerns that the Russian government might massively undervalue Yuganskneftegaz in order to place it within the financial reach of Russian companies; now there is no Russian company which can buy Yuganskneftegaz.