MOSCOW — Moscow's arbitration court postponed until July 25th the preliminary hearings on the Yukos appeal to negate the results of the Yuganskneftegaz (Yukos' main production unit) sales auction and to be awarded damages in the amount of $11.3 billion.

The court session was postponed to allow the defendants time to review the documents concerning the claimed amount.

During today's session, the court refused Yukos' appeal to present additional documents relevant to the contested auction procedures.

Yukos is demanding that the defendants collectively pay the amount of $11.3 billion in damages caused by the sale of Yuganskneftegaz shares. The defendants include the Russian Federal Property Fund (RFPF), BaikalFinance Group, Rosneft, Gazpromneft, Gazprom, and the Russian Ministry of Finance.

Yukos defense lawyers claim the auction was conducted with "numerous violations of Russian legislation and international law, including the Human Rights Convention."

In addition, they claim the RFPF deliberately lowered the initial price of the bloc of Yuganskneftegaz shares and violated bidding rules.

On November 18, 2004, bailiffs announced the Yuganskneftegaz sales auction to cover Yukos' tax debt.

The total amount of Yukos' tax debt exceeded $20 billion. On December 19, the RFPF sold a bloc of Yuganskneftegaz shares for $9.3 billion. BaikalFinance Group purchased the shares at the auction and later resold them to Rosneft. According to the Russian Ministry of Justice, on June 29, 2005, Yukos' remaining debt amounted to $2 billion.