NOVOSIBIRSK, November 9 - Russia`s Federal Bailiff Service (FBS) is considering selling the frozen assets of embattled oil major Yukos, a senior service official said Wednesday.

"I cannot say for sure that we will sell the frozen Yukos assets, but we do have such plans in general," FBS director Nikolai Vinnichenko told a news conference in Novosibirsk, a regional center in Siberia.

He said the company had paid off the bulk of last year`s $10-billion debt, but still had significant tax arrears, and the tax authorities had recently hit Yukos with additional $3.5 billion claim.

The authorities have sold some Yukos assets, including its core production unit Yuganskneftegaz, to cover its tax bill. The former chief executive of Yukos, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, is serving an eight-year sentence in Siberia.
sections: Economics, Region News
areas: Siberian region