The other main shareholders in Group Menatep, the main owner of Yukos, have fled the country, and Yukos's takeover of Sibneft, another big oil company, has fallen apart.

ECONOMIST: Buttonwood

For a while now, this attack has had the look of a concerted plan to leave the company's main shareholder, Group Menatep (which holds more than 60% of Yukos and which is in turn controlled by Mr Khodorkovsky), with less than a 25% blocking stake, if any at all.

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Speculation centres on which assets Yukos will be forced to sell, and whether the process will end up prising control of Yukos away from jailed ex-CEO Mikhail Khodorkovsky's investment firm Menatep Group.

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