Alexei Kudrin has toughened his stance on tax schemes

It will now reopen for preliminary hearings on 14 May.

Although the final outcome of the case may not be known for months, analysts say Yukos will lose and have to pay up.

Renewed criticism from Russian Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin about tax schemes used by Yukos is being seen as worsening the firm's prospects.

Yukos' former chief executive Mikhail Khodorkovsky was arrested last year and faces fraud and tax evasion charges.

His arrest was the first sign of the government's clampdown on Yukos, which many consider to be politically motivated.

Mr Khodorkovsky had funded liberal opposition groups which broke what analysts say was a tacit agreement to stay out of politics in return for avoiding scrutiny of his financial affairs.

Change in tone

"The outcome (of the court case) is difficult to predict, but the company could well be found liable for all or part of the amount," said Valery Nesterov, analyst at Russia's Troika Dialog brokerage.

Analysts have also noted the change in tone in the comments coming from Russian Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin.

Previously Mr Kudrin had described Yukos' tax minimisation schemes as "immoral but legal".

But in comments made this week, he said such schemes were illegal if they had no business justification beyond tax avoidance.

The shift increases the risk for the massive oil firm of an unfavourable result, said, Ivan Mazalov from Prosperity Capital Management.