[JURIST] Updating a story reported earlier today in JURIST's Paper Chase, a US State Department spokesman said Monday that the weekend auction sale of Russian oil giant Yukos' main production arm to satisfy back taxes in the face of a US bankruptcy court order eroded confidence in Russia's business, tax and court system. Richard Boucher said "Conduct of the case has raised serious concerns at the lack of transparency and the independence of Russia's investment and tax laws and the courts", and indicated that American officials would be discussing it with their Russian counterparts. AFP has more. Yukos has said meanwhile that it will "pursue every legal and commercial remedy available to it to recover the corporate value that will be unjustifiably destroyed if the auction of its largest production unit...becomes a completed transaction." Read the Yukos statement here. Yukos has posted the transcript of Saturday's US District Court proceeding upholding the Thursday TRO against sale of any Yukos assets here [PDF].