Jukos sees privatization as key to Westward expansion

Currently supplying 40% of all oil on the domestic market, the company also holds a strong position within the country's refinery market. However, now, on the eve of Poland's accession to the EU, it hopes future purchases in this country will help it expand into the Western oil market, which is seen as being of vital importance to the company as the new Russian government intends to raise taxes on raw material exports. Last year, Jukos produced 80 million tonnes of oil, 70% of which was sold abroad. At the moment, it estimates that the price of one barrel of oil needs to be at least $25 for its sales to be profitable, with the amount of oil it extracts being dependent on negotiations with the Russian authorities. It is hoped though that Jukos will not prove to be like Gazprom, which recently halted gas supplies to the country as a result of internal problems. (Parkiet, pp. 1,3) J.J.