The merger Oil giants join forces By Russell Working Exxon Corp.'s $70 billion buyout of Mobil Corp. - if approved by American regulators - would be the largest merger in U.S. corporate history and would reconfigure the map of oil extraction in the Russian Far East. Just the facts The merger of Exxon and Mobil, announced Dec. 1, would create the largest oil company in the world. The deal requires approval by U.S. government regulators. Both firms are active in Sakhalin shelf projects.

Japan denied Kuril crab quota MOSCOW - For the second straight year, Russia will not give Japan a crab quota in the South Kuril Islands in 1999, a top federal fishing official said Nov. 30. Sakhalin News: Gunman shoots dead two cops downtown ... UES offers to build plants for Japan ... Hiding from the tax man? Join the crowd [Back to the top]  [Back to Front page]  [Write to us] Sakhalin Briefs Gunman shoots dead two cops downtown A man wanted on murder charges shot and killed two policemen on Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk's main square the night of Nov. 30-Dec. 1, Interfax-Eurasia reported. The man, dressed in camouflage, fired a Kalashnikov assault rifle and then ran to Vokzalnaya Street, where he climbed to the loft of a house. Police caught up with him there and shot him dead. The assailant was identified only as Koskin. Police said he was wanted in connection with a case in Nevelsk, in southern Sakhalin. UES offers to build plants for Japan Unified Energy Systems of Russia is offering Japanese firms to build two power stations on Sakhalin to export the electricity to Japan, Itar-Tass reported recently. Board Chairman Anatoly Chubais presented the project at his recent meeting with the Japanese Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura in Japan. The project would require investment of about $12 billion, Chubais said. The money would build two power plants in southern Sakhalin, one working off natural gas and the other off coal. At the same time, an underwater high-tension cable would be constructed to connect Sakhalin and Hokkaido. The estimated cost of Sakhalin electricity would be a third the average in Japan. The reaction of Japan's foreign minister to the proposal was "extremely positive," Chubais said. Hiding from the tax man? Join the crowd Of 9,311 legal entity taxpayers in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, 3,036 are wanted by the tax police, the State Tax Inspectorate for Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk reported recently. Also, s Some 33 percent of the companies and 39 percent of individual entrepreneurs don't register. Of 11 commercial banks checked, three violated regulations for tax payment and payment transfers. They delayed 2.88 million rubles ($156,000) worth of payments in 615 cases. The inspectorate sued and liquidated 115 companies and punished another 1,004 for various violations of the tax laws. [Back to the top]  [Back to Front page]  [Write to us] © copyright 1998 the Vladivostok News. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed in any form.