MOSCOW — To bury YUKOS was an incorrect decision, president of the Union of Oil and Gas Industrialists of Russia Gennady Shmal has said in an interview with the Echo of Moscow radio. He stressed that YUKOS was the No. 2 Russian company after LUKoil and has been operating efficiently taking into account tax payments. Other companies also used mechanisms minimizing taxes they pay and YUKOS could have been just less cautious.

Russia's oil production is growing, Shmal said. On the other hand, reserves of natural resources are not advancing. In the oil processing industry deprecation is estimated at 80 percent, he added.