The Moscow Arbitration Court put a freeze on all Yukos’ assets, main shares and bank accounts after a lawsuit was filed by its former unit Yuganskneftegaz, Interfax said Tuesday. At the moment Yuganskneftegaz belongs to Rosneft.

Rosneft claims that Yukos damaged the interests of its former Yugansk unit by purchasing oil at lower prices than were set in the global market. The losses inflicted on Yugansk were estimated at around $11 billion, including $5.1 billion of tax claims and the lost profits of almost $6 billion.

In the court ruling dated April 5 the Moscow Arbitration Court prohibits Yukos to dispose of, encumber or manage the following companies’ shares: Samaraneftegas, Tomskneft of the Eastern Oil Company, Syzran Oil Refinery, Achinsk Oil Refinery of the Eastern Oil Company, East-Siberian Oil and Gas Company, Angara Petrochemical Company, Tambovneftproduct, Irkutskneftproduct. The court did not comply with Yuganskneftegaz’s lawsuit demand to arrest shares in Sterzh Oil Refinery, Caspian Oil Company and Mazeikiu Nafta, as “the adequacy of the proclaimed measures to the claims made was impossible to check on”.

Directly after the announcement the embattled oil company’s shares lost 8%.

A Yukos spokesman reported that the company received news of the court’s ruling and added that Yukos could stand to lose as many as three more units this summer.

"It was long clear that the government will not rest easy until there is nothing left of Yukos," economics commentator Mikhail Berger said on Moscow Echo radio.