two major Russian oil firms have planned to join hands. According to Russian officials, the merger would create a new force to be reckoned with on the domestic and global energy. Yukos, Russia's second largest oil producer and its number one refiner, will take a 60 per cent stake in its partnership with Sibneft, the seventh largest company by output. Michail Khodorokovsky, chairman of Yukos, said that the objective of this combination is to create a world-scale and world-class integrated company with strategically located operations throughout Russia. The new group would increase production to 100 million tonnes annually by early next century.