MOSCOW - The Russian state oil company Rosneft has filed two lawsuits against rival Yukos to recover almost 11 billion dollars (8.2 billion euros) in alleged management errors at the production unit Yuganskneftegaz, Rosneft said Tuesday.
"Rosneft filed two lawsuits on behalf of Yuganskneftegaz," a former Yukos subsidiary acquired in a disputed auction in December, a Rosneft spokesman said.
Yukos rejected the allegations in a statement, adding that it still considered Yuganskneftegaz to be a Yukos asset.
"Yukos has still not received any formal notification that 77 percent stock ownership of Yuganskneftegaz has been acquired by Rosneft.
"As a result, Yukos still considers that Yuganskneftegaz continues to be a legitimate asset of Yukos, and Rosneft has illegally confiscated it and is managing it illegally."
Rosneft acquired Yugansk after what many regarded as a politically-motivated legal assault on Yukos.
According to the Rosneft spokesman, his group uncovered "more than 300 billion rubles" (almost 11 billion dollars) in management errors at Yuganskneftegaz.
The oil subsidiary produces as much oil as the US state of Texas, and accounted for more than 60 percent of Yukos's sales.
But Yukos counter attacked, charging that "to steal our asset and then file a false and unfounded multibillion dollar lawsuit against Yukos accusing our company of acting unlawfully in the operation of that asset is ludicrous".
03/15/2005 12:09 GMT