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Challenges for new Yukos chief
MOSCOW, Russia (Reuters) -- The new head of Russia's oil giant Yukos, Russian-born American Simon Kukes, is famous for landing the biggest foreign investment in Russian history. But, say former colleagues, the workaholic oil professional may struggle in leading Russia's biggest oil company through a daunting battle with an angry Kremlin. "He is too mild and intelligent. I can't see how his character, which earned him so much respect among his colleagues, will help him handle this crisis," said a former colleague of Kukes from Russia's third largest oil firm TNK. It was at TNK where Kukes, back in Moscow after a long spell in the United States, was instrumental in forging a $7 billion joint venture with BP Ltd., the largest such investment ever to come to Russia. Kukes must, among other tasks, fathom the reason for the move against Yukos, something analysts say is far from clear. He will have to develop relations with a Kremlin "apparat" that may view him with little more sympathy than predecessor Mikhail Khodorkovsky, longtime power behind the firm, now in prison. "Nobody understands what the power center (Kremlin) really wants from Yukos -- more taxes or ... just Khodorkovsky's head or his entire business? Or whether it is full-scale nationalization going on in Russia," said one industry analyst. Kukes, 56, was appointed chief executive of Yukos on Monday, replacing Khodorkovsky, who remains the main shareholder. The shares of top investors have however been frozen by judicial authorities pending investigations. Khodorkovsky resigned on Monday, just over a week after being arrested at gunpoint over charges of tax evasion and fraud. He said he wanted to protect his company from the attack, which many analysts say was orchestrated by the Kremlin to punish the billionaire for his political activities. President Vladimir Putin says the action is purely a judicial matter without any political background. Kukes said Yukos would continue the policies of Khodorkovsky, Russia's richest man and one of a string of businessmen who became enormously rich from the rapid privatizations after the collapse of communism in the 1990s. "We don't plan any changes in company behavior ... We have a strong team," he told a news conference on Tuesday. Born in Moscow in 1946, Kukes graduated from the Moscow Chemical Institute in 1969 and emigrated to the United States in 1977 to work for U.S. oil firms Phillips and Amoco until 1995, when he returned to Russia to head Yukos' refining department. In 1998, he left Yukos for TNK to become the firm's president, helping core owners revive the firm. Asked once what was the reason behind his decision to leave Texas and return to Russia, Kukes said: "The work is interesting -- every day there is a new challenge." Copyright 2003 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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