RusEnergy

MOSCOW, April 2 (RIA Novosti) - LUKoil [RTS: LKOH] is interested in participating in the auction of Yukos's assets in southern Russia, the company's president said Monday. Yukos, once Russia's largest oil company, was declared bankrupt August 1, 2006, after three years of litigation with tax authorities over the company's tax arrears. A string of auctions has ensued as the company faces a total of more than 700 billion rubles (about $26.9 billion) in claims from creditors. "We are interested in this lot," Vagit Alekperov said. The committee of Yukos creditors formed the lot of Yukos's subsidiaries in the Krasnodar Territory in late March, and a source close to the committee said the starting price of the lot would be 3.7 billion rubles ($142 million). Alekperov said although LUKoil, currently Russia's largest crude producer, was interested in the region's enterprises, no final decision has been made whether they would bid or not. It was earlier reported that bids could be submitted between April 2 and 28, and that the auction could be held in early May.