Yuganskneftegaz was seized in part-payment of Yukos's alleged tax arrears in 2004 and subsequently acquired by Rosneft after a rigged auction, won by a dodgy front company.

ECONOMIST: Rosneft's competitive advantage

By and large, businesses welcomed this tidying up, even though they will pay more tax during a four-year transition to a new system of payment, under which big firms will pay tax quarterly on a current-year basis, rather than in arrears as now.

ECONOMIST: Gordon Brown’s progress | The