"The date for auctioning off the Yukos-owned share in Gazprom Neft will become known next week," Nikolai Lashkevich said, adding that the Federal Property Fund would organize the auction.
Under the original merger deal of October 2003 between the once two leading oil companies in Russia, Yukos gained 92% of Sibneft's shares, with the latter holding a 26% stake in Yukos. The merger was later canceled, and the court left Yukos with a 20% stake, which the company had acquired for $3 billion.
Yukos's creditors committee has published the timetable for selling the oil company's assets. Bids will be accepted within 30 days before the auction, and foreigners will also be permitted to bid.
The pledge totals 20% of the original price of every asset, and each step is 0.5-1% of the value.
Sources close to the creditors' committee said the 20% in Gazprom Neft, where the rest of shares belong to Russian energy giant Gazprom [RTS: GAZP], and 9.44% of shares in the state-controlled Rosneft [RTS: ROSN] would be the first to go on auction.
Media reports have said the assessment of Yukos's share in Rosneft put the value at 182.3 billion rubles ($7 billion) in January, and the stake in Gazprom Neft at 105.5 billion rubles ($4 billion).
In early August, Moscow's Arbitration Court declared Yukos bankrupt and launched the relevant proceedings.
