Russian oil major Yukos has filed for bankruptcy protection in a US court and will seek an injunction to stop Russia from auctioning off its main production unit on December 19, it said on Wednesday.Yukos also asked the court to order Russia to arbitration, so that it can seek billions of dollars in damages over “an unprecedented campaign of illegal, discriminatory and disproportionate” tax claims.The Russian government intends to auction Yuganskneftegaz, the crown jewel of fallen oligarch Mikhail Khodorkovsky’s business empire, at a starting price of $9 billion to help recover $27 billion in back taxes owed by Yukos. “The steps we took today were done as a last resort to preserve the rights of our shareholders, employees and customers,” Yukos CEO Steven Theede said in a statement. “Unfortunately, we believe it was the only resort left.” —Reuters
