Speaking at a news conference in Germany, Putin endorsed the forced auction. He also revealed that he had detailed knowledge of the buyers and the property's probable future, placing himself in the middle of an international controversy over the sale.

The firm Baikalfinansgroup won a controlling 76.8 percent stake in Yukos subsidiary Yuganskneftegaz at the auction Sunday, in effect gutting the dominant Russian oil company. Its offer of $9.3 billion was about half of the $18 billion that foreign auditors said the subsidiary was worth.

All of the purchaser's shareholders are private individuals ''who for many years have been doing business in the energy sphere,'' Putin told reporters after a meeting with German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder.

''They intend to build some kind of relationship with other energy companies of Russia that are interested in this asset,'' Putin said. In response to a question, he said that state-owned companies and others had the right to acquire the property from the buyers.

Critics charge that Russian authorities are dismembering Yukos to get control of its assets and punish its former chief executive, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, a political opponent of Putin. Russia claims that the company owes $27 billion in back taxes. Khodorkovsky was arrested last year and is on trial for allegedly engineering a $1.4 billion tax fraud. He remains in jail.

Putin's most revealing comment came in relation to reports that China's state energy company might be involved with Yuganskneftegaz and the auction. Putin said the Chinese had nothing to do with the auction, but that they did have an agreement to cooperate with Gazprom.

''We don't rule out a possibility that the state energy company of China will take part in the work of this asset, which was sold at this auction. I mean Yuganskneftegaz,'' Putin continued. ''It is quite possible.''

Gazprom was originally expected to be the winner of the auction. Analysts said that having an unknown company come out on top might have been a maneuver aimed at taking control of the production facility without having Gazprom assume unnecessary legal risks.

A Houston bankruptcy court last week issued a 10-day injunction banning the auction of Yuganskneftegaz after Yukos filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The court was due to resume hearings today.

Yukos says it will pursue damages against anyone associated with the auction.

If the sale of the auctioned stock is completed, Yukos will suffer more than $20 billion in damages, it said.