Russians sign Owen for top job

RUSSIAN oil giant Yukos is claiming a coup in appointing former Foreign Secretary Lord Owen as chairman of its London-based international operation. 'It is the first time that a person with such a high international status has agreed to work for a Russian company,' said Russian business daily

Yukos has done more than most Russian companies to adopt Western-style accounting and business standards. This followed criticism of the company's use of offshore havens at the time of the rouble crash in 1998.

'I'm glad that Lord Owen joined,' said chief executive Mikhail Khodorkovsky. 'As a respected global statesman, he has the ability and experience to move Yukos' European business into a new and exciting phase.'

Owen has had close involvement with the former Soviet market through Middlesex Holdings and Europe-Steel.com. But it is his knowledge of the Balkans - that maybe of immediate use as the rapidly expanding Yukos seeks an oil pipeline from Russia to the Croatian coast.