Bizwatch

Russia’s Discount Sale
Now begins the endgame for Yukos, Russia’s biggest oil producer. One year after authorities arrested founder Mikhail Khodorkovsky, the Kremlin is seeking to recoup at least $4 billion in taxes by forcibly selling the firm’s main asset, Yuganskneftegaz, which controls vast Siberian oil fields. The subsidiary, which pumps 1 million bbl. of oil per day — about 60% of Yukos’ output — has been valued by Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein at between $14.7 and $17.3 billion.

Reports last week suggested the Kremlin might hand it to a Russian rival, Gazprom, for a fraction of that price. “It’s robbery in broad daylight,” complains Robert Amsterdam, a lawyer for Khodorkovsky, who says the Kremlin has no right to proceed with what he terms “the world’s largest hostile takeover.” So far the firm isn’t saying whether it will mount a

INDICATORS
Not Over Yet
U.S. regulators settled charges against Dutch retailer Royal Ahold and three former executives related to last year’s 3900 million accounting scandal. Separately, a Dutch court rejected requests from the three — and one other exec — to dismiss fraud charges.

Broken promises?
New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer sued U.S. insurance broker Marsh & McLennan Companies, alleging it directed unsuspecting clients to insurers in exchange for lucrative payoffs.

A Clear Signal
The French government approved mobile-phone jamming devices barring all but emergency calls in theaters and concert halls.

Broken promises?
New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer sued U.S. insurance broker Marsh & McLennan Companies, alleging it directed unsuspecting clients to insurers in exchange for lucrative payoffs.

legal challenge. But Western oil companies are watching. Analysts say they would snap up what’s left of Yukos if allowed. Big oil “is desperate to invest in Russia. It’s one of the few opportunities left,” says Jonathan Stern of the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies. Does Russia intend to keep that opportunity at home? — With reporting by Valeria Korchagina

A Bit Of Healthy Competition
I f one drug firm sneezes, does the whole world catch the flu? U.S. health authorities were scrambling to answer that question last week after a severe shortage of flu vaccines sparked consumer panic. U.S. drug company Chiron, which produces almost half the 100 million doses for the U.S., had earlier said it would not be able to deliver any this year after British authorities suspended Chiron’s license, saying that the process used in a Liverpool plant didn’t meet British standards. Enter France’s Aventis Pasteur, Chiron’s main rival, which has already distributed more than 33 million of 55 million doses of Fluzone in the U.S. this season. The firm is working to distribute the rest to the neediest cases. But Aventis won’t make extra money because it takes months to make new vaccines. Meanwhile, Britain’s GlaxoSmithKline has started talks with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to license its Fluarix vaccine, arguing that the U.S. needs more than two big suppliers.

Collision Courses
Automaker General Motors said that over the next two years it would shed up to 12,000 jobs at its European operations, mostly in Germany — almost one-fifth of the staff. Meanwhile, the European Commission formally challenged a German law shielding Volkswagen from hostile takeover.