Yukos loses its bankruptcy appeal

A Moscow arbitration court has thrown out an appeal by Russian oil firm Yukos against it being declared bankrupt.

Yukos was challenging a decision made last month that cleared the way for the firm to be liquidated.

The decision followed a three-year court battle for survival, after Yukos was hit with a huge back tax bill.

The saga has seen former Yukos chief Mikhail Khodorkovsky jailed and parts of the oil firm’s empire sold off with rivals keen to buy assets.