Russian President Vladimir Putin today quashed a threat by a minister to strip Yukos of lucrative Siberian oilfields, in his first public move to support the embattled oil giant.
Mr Putin, on a European tour to calm foreign investors over the Kremlin's fight with Yukos, reiterated his support for prosecutors who detained its former ceo Mr Mikhail Khodorkovsky, but said the state did not want to destroy the firm.
A state newspaper quoted resource minister Mr Vitaly Artyukhov today saying Yukos was set to lose some of its Siberian licences following Khodorkovsky's arrest and the freezing of a controlling Yukos stake owned by him and his allies.
But when asked about the move during a state visit to Italy, Mr Putin told reporters: "I have big doubts about the appropriateness of these steps."
"The state surely does not want to destroy the company," he added. "I expect the government to refrain from such steps."
Mr Putin, who will also travel to France this week, has been working to shore up investor faith in Russian political stability since the Yukos crisis escalated last month.
But he has so far refused to intervene, saying it was a matter for prosecutors. Moscow share prices, bloated by booming interest in the nation's oil-driven economic recovery, took a fresh dive today, also rattled by rating agency Moody's decision to cut its outlook stance on YUKOS and its merger partner Sibneft.