The Prosecutor General's Office said the company, Strategic Communications Agency, allegedly holds computer databases for companies controlled by the Russian oil giant. Interfax said prosecutors hoped to find evidence of tax evasion on the databases.

Yukos denied that it had any connection to the company.

The criminal probe into Yukos is seen in Russia as a politically motivated warning to chief executive Mikhail Khodorkovsky, identified by Forbes magazine as Russia's richest man, to stay out of politics. Khodorkovsky has openly supported parties in opposition to the Kremlin and has denounced the probe.

The investigation began in July with the arrest of Platon Lebedev, a top Yukos shareholder and board chairman of Menatep Group, on charges of theft of state property during the 1994 privatization of a fertilizer plant.

Lebedev has remained in jail awaiting trial. Last week, prosecutors also filed tax evasion charges against a Yukos manager, Vasily Shakhnovsky, who oversees day-to-day company operations and is responsible for customer relations and auditing.

Prosecutors have also carried out searches of Yukos-owned companies and the homes of Yukos shareholders.

Interfax said lawmaker Sergei Mitrokhin got caught up in Thursday's search because he happened to be in the offices of the Strategic Communications Agency. Mitrokhin told Interfax he was barred from leaving, which the Prosecutor General's Office denied. Mitrokhin is a member of the liberal Yabloko faction, which Khodorkovsky has supported.

Yukos recently completed its merger with its smaller rival Sibneft to create one of the world's top oil producers, and will formally become the new entity after a November shareholder meeting.

See also:

State Duma elections 2003

The Associated Press, October 23, 2003