YUKOS, Russia's second largest oil group, has offered to take up to a 40% stake in the Anglo-Norwegian group KVAENER in which it already has a 12.1% stake. It is offering NOK 15 a share to acquire additional shares enabling it to climb to 25% of the capital, before envisaging climbing to 40%, level that could oblige it to make a bid for the company as a whole. This bid is a rare example of a Russian company trying to take a significant stake in a Western European company.