Moody's downgrades Yukos

Moody's Investors Service said it downgraded the senior implied rating of Yukos Oil Co. to Caa2 from B2 and its senior unsecured issuer rating to Caa3 from B3.

Both ratings have a developing outlook.

Moody's said its rating action follows renewed and additional claims made against Yukos by Russian tax authorities for back-dated tax payments, which could now amount to a total of around $17 billion, of which Yukos claims to have already paid $3.5 billion. This represents a significant deterioration in events for Yukos and may result in tax claims exceeding the realizable value of Yukos' core production asset, Yuganskneftegas.

Yukos has called an emergency shareholder meeting for Dec. 20 to consider filing for bankruptcy protection, which, if approved, may or may not be granted by Russian courts.

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