Bailiffs are to sell off Russian oil company Yukos's main production unit, Yuganskneftegaz, after it has been valued.
"After valuation, the share stake in Yuganskneftegaz will be handed over to a special organisation for sale," the justice ministry said in a statement today.
Yugansk accounts for 60 per cent of production at Yukos, which pumps a fifth of Russia's oil.
The company faces a fire sale of assets after missing a deadline to pay $3.4 billion in back taxes for 2000.