Yukos
OJSC "Yukos Oil Company" (Russian: ОАО Нефтяна́я Компа́ния Ю́КОС, ) was a petroleum company in Russia which, until 2003, was controlled by Russian oligarch Mikhail Khodorkovsky and a number of other prominent Russian businessmen. After Yukos was bankrupted, Khodorkovsky was convicted of fraud and sent to prison.
Yukos headquarters was located in Moscow. Yukos was one of the biggest and most successful Russian companies in 2000-2003. In 2003, following a tax reassessment, the Russian government presented Yukos with a series of tax claims that amounted to US$27 billion. As Yukos's assets were frozen by the government at the same time, the company was not able to pay these tax demands. On August 1, 2006, a Russian court declared Yukos bankrupt.
Most of Yukos's assets were sold at low prices to oil companies owned by the Russian government. The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe has condemned Russia's campaign against Yukos and its owners as manufactured for political reasons and a violation of human rights.
Read more about Yukos: History, Tax Claims, Forced Sale of Assets, Bankruptcy, Management, Yukos Oil Company Claim in The European Court of Human Rights