"Unless the government takes sensible steps, the management will have by law to file for bankruptcy. Under Article 9 of the Bank Code, a bankruptcy occurs in the event of a critical shortage of available cash and the impossibility of paying production expenses," Gerashchenko said.

He did not rule out that such a situation may develop by Decem

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ber 20. "I do not rule out such an eventuality, although by nature I am an optimist," Gerashchenko said.

Gerashchenko also said that the Italian oil company ENI may join Yukos as one of its shareholders.

"The Italian company ENI may become one of Yukos shareholders if (former Yukos head) Khodorkovsky hand over his stake in the company for realisation," Gerashchenko said.

According to him, ENI will in no case be able to obtain a controlling stake in Yukos, but will become one of the majority shareholders.

Gerashchenko said that representatives of the Italian company did not get in touch with the Yukos management. "Above all the Italians should agree with the state and determine what part of future earnings will be used to pay off tax liabilities, and which will go to the future shareholders of the company," he emphasised.

Gerashchenko said he did not think that the present Yukos shareholders will be shedding their shares via the exchange. "Given current prices for Yukos shares, this will hardly be a sensible decision even for those shareholders who are not under investigation and whose shares are not frozen," he noted.

Gerashchenko is attending an international conference in Hong Kong "Expansion of Capital - from a National to a Transnational Economy"

HONG KONG (XIANGGANG), November 10, (RIA Novostis Mark Zavadsky)