Rosneft has its own debt problems

Rosneft bought Yuganskneftegas from Yukos in a forced state auction and says any debts should be recovered from Yukos, the daily Vedomosti reported.

Yukos borrowed $1bn (�529m) from a group of banks and used main division Yuganskneftegas to guarantee the loan.

Ten lenders including Societe Generale, Deutsche Bank and ING are involved.

Slim chance?

Dutch bank ING told BBC News that about half of the $1bn loan had been repaid and the syndicate of lenders was trying to recoup the outstanding amount.

ING confirmed that it had held talks with Yuganskneftegas and that Rosneft was present at the meeting, but declined to comment any further.

Societe Generale would not comment on the newspaper reports, while Deutsche Bank was not immediately available for comment.

According to Vedomosti, Rosneft also said that if the banks wanted to continue working in Russia and keep on good terms with the Kremlin then they should forget about suing a state-owned company.

Group Menatep, the biggest shareholder in Yukos, is also trying to recoup $1bn in loans that were guaranteed against Yuganskneftegas exports.

Analysts have voiced scepticism about their chances of getting repaid, pointing to the fact that Rosneft, as a state-owned firm, is not governed by international business law in the same way as other companies.

Rosneft seized control of Yuganskneftegas after Russia decided to break up Yukos in order to pay off $27.5bn in unpaid taxes.

The business was bought for $9.4bn by a previously-unknown group, which was in turn bought up almost immediately by Rosneft.