Shares in Russian major oil company Yukos dived 12 per cent today after it said a court order freezing its bank accounts over a $3.4 billion tax claim for 2000 posed a direct threat to its operations.
The slide brought losses in Yukos shares to more than 20 per cent in two days, after Russian news agencies reported that tax authorities had hit Russia's leading oil producer with a second tax demand for 2001, also for $3.4 billion.
Yukos must pay the first fine by early next week but says it lacks the money, raising the prospect of a fire sale of its assets which could turn what was once Russia's largest listed company into an empty shell.
Yukos shares slumped 12 per cent on the MICEX exchange to 178 roubles, close to the two-year lows set in mid-June when former chief executive Mr Mikhail Khodorkovsky went on trial for tax evasion and fraud.
Prices later recovered about half their losses. Yukos's dollar-denominated shares opened down 17 per cent.
A court turned down an appeal by Yukos against a freeze on its assets, meaning that bailiffs who yesterday gave the company five days to pay its 2000 tax debt will control the company's likely break-up.