Auditors PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) finally secured its right to continue operating in Russia, just weeks before the licence was due to expire.

Despite a spate of negative signals, including police raids, a highly critical court judgment and the sudden loss of contracts with state-controlled firms, the multinational can now continue to operate in Russia for at least five years.

Last night, the company's relief was clear: "We are very pleased with the positive response to our licence renewal application. We will continue to provide the highest quality services to our clients, many of which are the largest and most successful companies in Russia."

Doubts about the licence persisted after a Russian court fined PwC €420,000 last month for its role in assisting bankrupt oil giant Yukos to evade taxes. The Moscow arbitration court ruling was scathing, accusing PwC of playing a substantial role in helping Yukos mislead shareholders.

It also faces a €10 million back-tax claim and was raided by interior ministry officials last month as part of this investigation. PwC criticised the raid, saying files unrelated to the tax claim were also removed from its offices in central Moscow.

Then, the state-controlled AvtoVaz group dropped PwC, as did the giant Sakhalin energy project, though the firm still retains other large state-linked clients.

The final decision on the licence renewal of PwC rested with the finance ministry, not the Russian courts. The company has consistently protested its innocence of all official criticism.