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CEO of beleagured Yukos resigns

Amid speculation of a deep split within Yukos, the company's chief executive, Simon Kukes, stepped down on Thursday and was immediately succeeded by Steven Theede, formerly chief operating officer.

A Russian-born American, Kukes had been chief of Yukos since last November, when he took over from the company's founder, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, who had been arrested in October and remains in prison.

Khodorkovsky, Russia's wealthiest man, is facing trial on several fraud and tax evasion charges. In a separate case, Yukos also faces a US$3.4 billion tax bill from the tax authorities.

"My task in my new post is to maintain the leading position of Yukos," Theede said in a statement.

At the company's annual general meeting on Thursday, Viktor Gerashchenko, a former Russian central bank chief, was appointed chairman of the Yukos board, and his abilities as a political insider are expected to help resolve the company's dispute with the tax authorities. He twice served as the country's central banker, once during Soviet times and then later in the late-1990s.

A former Conoco executive, Theede seeks to end a dispute with Moscow and avert bankruptcy, the prospect of which is seen as part of a wider Kremlin-backed campaign against Khodorkovsky.

The Yukos board also endorsed a plan outlined in a letter to Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov, in which Yukos sought to restructure its tax debt, in the event that the company is forced to pay.

Yukos also offered to sell assets to cover the claim or facilitate the transfer of control from Khodorkovsky and his investment com-pany, Group Menatep, to a shareholder of the government's choice.

Gerashchenko added at the meeting that the board would address payment of the back taxes.

"The rescue plan is very simple," he told the Interfax news agency. "It involves negotiations, about which the Yukos management has already spoken, and a mutually acceptable compromise ensuring that the authorities will not put forward unrealistic requirements."

Russian market analysts said Kukes' departure would not affect day-to-day operations, but signaled a split within Yukos' career oilmen and the majority shareholders, which include Khodorkovsky and his holding company, Menatep.

"Kukes attempted to depoliticize the situation, and the Menatep people don't want that," said Eric Kraus, chief strategist at Sovlink Securities, a brokerage firm in Moscow. "Kukes knew his job was producing oil and selling it, not a political crusade. Menatep has become a political animal, but its principal asset is still Yukos.

"He was more interested in working for Yukos than for Menatep or Khodorkovsky," Kraus said. "And there is a difference between them."

Shareholders said Theede's accession as chief executive would be generally neutral, with the resolution of the US$3.4 billion tax claim the chief concern of investors.

"Given all the drama, it's not surprising Kukes resigned," said Charles Tennes, chief investment officer at Alfa Capital. "We know no one executive has a whole lot of power, but we hope they're taking stewardship seriously."
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