backed, crushed under the burden of $27 billion in tax claims. The purchase of Yugansk will make Rosneft one of Russia's biggest oil firms with production of 1.45 million barrels per day, almost as much as OPEC member Libya. Rosneft's chairman, Igor Sechin, has been a close associate of Putin since his days in St Petersburg's local administration. He doubles as deputy head of the Kremlin staff and is seen as one of the most powerful figures in Russia. The move also confirms the ascendancy of hardliners in the Kremlin, known as "siloviki", sworn to bringing to heel business "oligarchs" who own vast swathes of Russian industry. --More 1835 Local Time 1535 GMT
