China behind Russian Yukos funds

China was the key lender behind a US$6bn cash injection for the Russian government enabling it to renationalize a key gas unit of oil group Yukos, the Kremlin announced. The funds provided by Chinese banks to Russian state bank VEB enabled the government to buy up Yuganskneftegas via state-owned energy firm Rosneft. In a separate announcement it was also revealed that Rosneft had signed a US$6bn energy supply deal with China's CNPC. With the cash provided up front for that deal, it was unclear from the Russian announcements whether the two lots of US$6bn were in fact one and the same deal. Rosneft's purchase of Yugansk surprised many at the time, coming from a relatively unknown, medium-sized company struggling with debts of its own. Yukos, meanwhile, has filed for bankruptcy protection in a US court in an attempt to prevent the forced sale of its main production arm.