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Khodorkovsky
marks first year in jail
RosBusinessConsulting, October 25, 2004
Exactly one year ago, on October 25, 2003, Mikhail
Khodorkovsky, Chief Executive Officer and a key shareholder
in the oil company YUKOS, was arrested.
"We
Are Not Extremists"
Moskovskiye Novosti, August 13, 2004
Interview with Alexei
Melnikov, one of YABLOKO's leaders, on
the actions of the Youth organisation of YABLOKO and
party prospects in general by MN's correspondent Stanislav
Natanzon.
YABLOKO
defies Union of Right-Wing Forces Ultimatum
By Yelena Rudneva, Gazeta.ru, November 12, 2003
"95 per cent of our voters would never in their
lives vote for Chubais and Kokh, but would instead
give up and vote against everybody”
Putin's
problem: The Yukos case is bad for business, jobs
and the economy
Editorial, Financial Times (UK), November 13, 2003
Meanwhile, the deputy public prosecutor delivered
a grim message to the rest of the Russian business
community. "Let those who are still at liberty
think hard about what they are doing," said Vladimir
Kolesnikov.
Wealth:
wild card in Russian election
By Fred Weir, Christian Science Monitor, November
13, 2003
"Previously hidden conflicts have emerged into
the open, and now there is a real issue to fight the
election on: Will Russia slide back into a police
state or turn decisively toward the European model
of democracy and human rights."
Russia
Enters Election Season Split Over Future of Capitalism
By Peter Baker, Washington Post, November 8, 2003
On the anniversary of the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution,
Russia formally opened its parliamentary election
season Friday amid a vigorous debate about the future
of capitalism in this country in transition.
Putin
Rejects Revoking Yukos Licenses
By Peter Baker, Washington Post, November 6, 2003
"I have strong doubts that such actions would
be appropriate," Putin added about the licensing
threat.
Political
Parties Have a Holiday
By Anatoly Medetsky, The Moscow Times, November 10,
2003
While Communist Party supporters marched, armed with
red banners and slogans that included "Down With
the Bourgeoisie," in Pushkin Square the liberal
parties Union of Right Forces, or SPS, and Yabloko
protested the jailing of Yukos boss Mikhail Khodorkovsky.
Putin's
Reign of Fear
By Vladimir Gusinsky, The Moscow Times, November 10,
2003
If the Russian elite does not overcome its fear, Putin
will tighten the screws. The regime will be entrenched
for years, even if someone else is in charge.
Elite
Change, Status Quo Unchanged
By Andrei Ryabov, The Moscow Times, November 6, 2003
The arrest of Yukos CEO Mikhail Khodorkovsky has hastened
serious changes in the balance of power within the
Russian political establishment -- perhaps the most
profound changes since Vladimir Putin became president.
'A
creeping bureaucratic coup'
Stefan Wagstyl, Andrew Jack and Arkady Ostrovsky,
Financial Times (UK), November 3, 2003
"We will see the growing role of bureaucracy,
with more corruption and less pluralism. The new reality
will be pretty tough: there will not be repression,
but a creeping bureaucratic coup."
Interview
with Grigory Yavlinsky
Anchor - Vladimir Solovyov, NTV channel, "Apelsinoviy
Sok" (Orange Juice) progamme, November 2, 2003
Yavlinsky: In our country, any political activities
become complicated, if they are purposeful and serious.
In Russia, many Stalinist methods of government are
still in use.
Liberal
International Awards freedom Prize 2004 to Grigory
Yavlinsky
Liberal International, News Release, October 25, 2003
"Liberal International's Freedom Prize is warded
to those who fight for and promote the cause of human
rights and liberal democracy. We are delighted to
honour Grigory Yavlinsky with this prize in recognition
of his work in these areas and his efforts to improve
the quality of life for the peoples of Russia..."
Marshal
law in the Wild East
By Michael Binyon in London, and Caroline McGregor
and Simon Saradzhyan in Moscow, The Times ((UK), November
1, 2003
Why does the arrest of Russia's wealthiest magnate
and the subsequent turmoil in its biggest oil company
matter so much?
Public
warms to tough stance
By Andrew Jack and Arkady Ostrovsky, Financial Times
(UK), November 1, 2003
Most ordinary Russians applauded President Vladimir
Putin's tough action against Mikhail Khodorkovsky,
the head of Yukos, but the media and political elite
were more critical of the authority's actions.
Don't
move or we'll shoot, Khodorkovsky was told
By Julius Strauss in Moscow, The Electronic Telegraph
(UK), November 1, 2003
As Mr Khodorkovsky was being led away he must have
known that it was dangerous even for a man who runs
Russia's richest company and the world's fourth largest
oil concern to cross the KGB men at the heart of the
Kremlin.
Yukos
Defenders Join Annual Lubyanka Rally
By Maria Danilova, The Moscow Times, October 31, 2003
"This is a rally to commemorate the victims of
Stalin's repressions. There is no room for politics
here," said Yevgeny Bunimovich, a City Duma deputy
who helped organize the event...
The
System Fights Against Itself Like Siamese Twins
By Xeniya Veretennikova, Vremya Novostei, October
29, 2003
According to the Yabloko leader, the leadership is
now creating a police state, which will not be able
to exist without Stalin's principles of control. This
is why only the dismantling of this system can improve
the situation.
Investigators
find tax police documents related to YUKOS case.
ITAR-TASS, October 29, 2003
The spokeswoman for the Prosecutor General's Office,
Natalia Vishnyakova, told journalists on Wednesday
that some of the documents included a scheme of fund
transfers through the administrative territorial entity
in the town of Lesnoi.
"You
are The Oligarchs and This is Election Season."
By Julie A. Corwin, RFE/RL Russian Political Weekly,
29 October 2003
Igor Yurgens, executive director of the business lobbying
group the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs:...the
Kremlin "had to find a new threat to mobilize
the masses to vote for Putin and his party in the
Duma, and they found one in the oligarchs."
Lawmakers
and political scientists move to "topple Putin"
By Anton Brazhitsa, gazeta.ru, October 29, 2003
According to the leader of the Yabloko party, this
system has "transformed our people's court into
the Basmannyi court", authorizing unlawful searches
and questioning of Duma deputies, defence counsels
and priests.
Putin
looks to Duma to tighten his grip
By Alexander Bim and Kim Iskyan, International Herald
Tribune, October 29, 2003
If strong lobbyist factions - primarily those supported
by some of Russia's oligarchs - carve out a voice
for themselves, the Kremlin will have a much more
difficult time managing the Duma. A strong showing
by the liberal Yabloko faction (which has received
financial support from Khodorkovsky) could interfere
with the Kremlin's plans.
Khodorkovsky's
arrest splits politicians
By Yelena Shishkunova, gazeta.ru, October 28, 2003
Mikhail Khodorkovsky's arrest has split Russian politicians
into three camps. The first camp includes the Union
of Right-Wing Forces and Yabloko who have denounced
the Prosecutor General's Office's actions against
the YUKOS CEO as unlawful...
Capitalism
with a Stalinist Face
By Natalia Melikova, Alexandra Samarina and Valery
Tsygankov, Nezavisimaya Gazeta, October 27, 2003
On Saturday and Sunday, many political parties and
public organizations issued statements and appeals
related to the arrest of Mikhail Khodorkovsky. Many
appealed to the President to meet with representatives
of the political and business elite and tell them
where he stands on these events.
Ulterior
motive seen in Russian prosecution
By Ralph Ranalli, Boston Globe, October 27, 2003
Khodorkovsky, one of the so-called oligarchs who made
vast fortunes in the privatization of former state-run
businesses after the the Soviet Union broke up, has
openly supported political parties that are opposing
Putin's in December elections to the Duma, the Russian
Parliament.
Law
and Order, Russian Style
By Geoffrey Smith, Wall Street Journal, October 27,
2003
After the self-exile of Boris Berezovsky and fellow
media tycoon Vladimir Gusinsky, no other oligarch
has lost his liberty or any of his assets, despite
the fact that most of them are signally sleazier and
none has done half as much as Mr. Khodorkovsky to
rehabilitate Russian business in the eyes of the international
community.
Tycoon's
arrest clouds Russia reform prospects
By Jonathan Thatcher, Reuters, October 27, 2003
Saturday's arrest at gunpoint of oil magnate Mikhail
Khodorkovsky risks undoing Putin's efforts during
three years in power to drag up the sagging economy
and create a strong political system into which investors
would happily pour money.
Melnikov:
I am extremely concerned about Khodorkovsky's health
Gazeta.ru, October 27, 2003
According to Melnikov, "The Office of the Public
Prosecutor General will do all they can to prevent
barristers from visting Khodorkovsky."
Putin
reacts to "YUKOS case"
RBC, October 27, 2003
"There won't be any meetings or any bargaining
over the activities of the law and enforcement agencies,
unless they breached Russian law," Mayak radio
quoted Putin as saying.
Detention
of the head of YUKOS represents an act of intimidation
against large-scale business, RBC, October 25,
2003
Detention of the head of YUKOS represents an act of
intimidation against large-scale business. This statement
was made to RBC by Vyacheslav Erokhin, chief analyst
at the Center for Economic and Political Research
EPIcenter.
Member
of the State Duma Budget Committee Alexei Melnikov
(YABLOKO) sharply criticised the actions of the FSB
and Public Prosecutor's Office, Interfax, October
25, 2003
"The people acting against Khodorkovsky and YUKOS
don't think that they are bound by the law,"
said Melnikov.
The
Russian Democratic Party YABLOKO and the Union of
Right-Wing Forces Party Regarding the detention of
the head of the YUKOS company. Joint Statement,
October 25, 2003
The Russian Democratic Party YABLOKO and the Union
of Right-Wing Forces Party express their deep concern
over the detention of the head of YUKOS Mikhail Khodorkovsky
in Novosibirsk.
Turning
point Putin shows his authoritarian hand
By Nick Paton Walsh, The Guardian (UK), October 27,
2003
Yesterday, it became clear that President Putin's
era of liberal reforms was almost certainly over.
The
Elite Demand Some Answers
By Valeria Korchagina, The Moscow Times, October 27,
2003
Faced by Saturday's arrest of Yukos chief Mikhail
Khodorkovsky, even those who have known Putin for
years appear to be at a loss.
Russians
Seize, Charge YUKOS Oil Magnate
Reuters, October 25, 2003
Police snatched Russia's richest man, YUKOS oil tycoon
Mikhail Khodorkovsky, from his jet in Siberia on Saturday
and hauled him before a Moscow court, charged with
massive fraud and tax evasion.
Democracy,
In Putin's Own Words
Editorial, The Moscow Times, October 9, 2003
President Vladimir Putin, in interviews given to foreign
journalists just before and after his recent trip
to the United States, offered his most detailed comments
to date on the ongoing Yukos saga and, more broadly,
on the relationship between the state and business.
Russia's
Biggest Problem is the State
By Anna Skornyakova, Nezavisimaya Gazeta, October
2, 2003
As long as law enforcement agencies are virtually
uncontrolled and can blackmail businessmen and participate
in the redistribution of property, any qualitative
improvement in the situation is out of question, something
noted by virtually all the politicians and political
scientists at the meeting of the Open Forum Club devoted
to the prospects of Russia's economy and the problems
of relations between the authorities and business.
Shell
inks Siberia spend amid Russia oil fever
By Melanie Cheary, Reuters, September 16, 2003
Shell became one of the biggest foreign investors
in Russia when it gave the green light this year for
a $10 billion project on the remote eastern island
of Sakhalin, where it will build the world's largest
liquefied natural gas plant by 2006.
69%
of Russians Say YUKOS Scandal Tied to Redistribution
of Property
Rosbalt, September 5, 2003
The survey was conducted at the end of August. In
all 1,500 people were polled.
Reforms
that corrupted Russia
By Grigory Yavlinsky, Financial Times (UK), September
3, 2003
In those years two Marxist dogmas, albeit disguised
in liberal phraseology, still shaped economic policy.
The first was...
Alexei
Melnikov: "We will investigate this case as long
as necessary"
Recorded by Nikolai Morozov, Komsomolskaya Pravda,
August 27, 2003
"If we don't succeed here now, then the forces
that are emerging in the law and enforcement agencies
will decide that they can do anything".
Whither
Putin After the Yukos Affair?
By Lilia Shevtsova, The Moscow Times, August 27, 2003
The Kremlin crackdown on one of the country's business
moguls is not just another twist in the ongoing political
struggle -- it says a lot about the very nature of
the political system and may serve as a foretaste
of shake-ups to come.
Arrested
Yukos Security Officer Recants Previous Testimony
RFE/RL, August 1, 2003
Aleksei Pichugin, a senior Yukos security official
who is facing double-murder charges, informed prosecutors
on 31 July that he renounces the statements he made
under interrogation on 14 July in connection with
the investigation, gazeta.ru reported on 1 August.
The
crackdown on Mikhail Khodorkovsy has many causes,
not least Kremlin intrigue and public anger at the
wealth of the oligarchs.
By Arkady Ostrovsky and Stefan Wagstyl, Financial
Times (UK), July 31, 2003
The conflict between Mikhail Khodorkovsky, Russia's
richest businessman, and the Russian prosecutor's
office has cast a shadow over the country's political
and economic future.
Russian
Official Says Probe Of Yukos Is Worrying Putin
By Gregory L. White, Wall Street Journal, July 29,
2003
President Vladimir Putin is concerned about the damage
an intense conflict between prosecutors and oil giant
OAO Yukos is doing to Russia's image and economy,
but a resolution to the situation could take time,
a senior Russian official said Tuesday.
Yavlinsky
again condemned the actions of the Prosecutor's Office
against YUKOS
Grigory Yavlinsky, Gazeta.ru, July 23, 2003
"We assess the attack against YUKOS and application
of repressions as useless and harmful measures from
the point of view of the condition of Russian business,"
War
Between the State and Oligarchs Is Destructive for
Russia
Interview with Grigory Yavlinsky, La Stampa, July
22, 2003
...The medicine turned out to be more dangerous than
the illness...
The
Drama Is Putin's, But so Are the Results
By Anders Aslund, The Moscow Times, July 25, 2003
Since July 2, a campaign has been pursued against
Yukos, Russia's biggest private enterprise and one
of its best managed. Several facts are evident. First...
Prime
minister says Yukos probe hurts Russia's international
image
Associated Press, July 24, 2003
Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov on Thursday said the
probe into Russia's largest oil company, Yukos, is
hurting Russia's image abroad and scaring away investors,
the Interfax news agency reported.
Court
Keeps Lebedev In Prison
By Catherine Belton, The Moscow Times, July 24, 2003
Prosecutors locked in a vicious, politically charged
battle with the Yukos oil major played hardball Wednesday
and emerged victorious from a closed-door hearing
where judges ruled to keep core Yukos shareholder
Platon Lebedev in prison while the fraud investigation
against him rolls on.
Yabloko
Still Counts On Khodorkovsky
By Francesca Mereu, The Moscow Times, July 16, 2003
The liberal opposition Yabloko party says it is not
worried about losing the financial support of Yukos
CEO Mikhail Khodorkovsky, despite a sense that his
political activities are one cause of his current
conflict with the Kremlin.
Open
season on Russia's tycoons As the Kremlin confronts
big business, experts warn of the dangers in revisiting
shady 1990s privatizations.
By Fred Weir, Christian Science Monitor, July 17,
2003
A Kremlin-ordered legal assault on Russia's largest
business empire has upset the country's fragile political
stability, and some experts warn that the confrontation
could spiral into a major crisis.
"The
Interests of These People Differ from the Views of
the President"
Interview with Alexei Melnikov By Svetlana Borozdina,
Gazeta.ru, July 14, 2003
"Someone would like to redistribute property
in his interests. This would push us back".
The
events connected with the YUKOS company will lead
to a loss of Russia's investment appeal and economic
instability.
Buro Pravovoi Informatsii, July 10, 2003
Yavlinsky noted that the recent drop of the rates
at the stock market was the sharpest since the 1998
crisis.
The
leader of YABLOKO: "The events around YUKOS undermine
economic and political stability in the country"
Alliance Media, July 9, 2003
"We assess the events around YUKOS related to
the arrest of one of the heads of the company and
the Public Prosecutors' interrogation of the head
of the company as absolutely unjustified from common
sense or the legal point of view".
According
to Yavlinsky, Putin thinks that it is wrong to impose
extraordinary repressive measures to resolve economic
disputes
RIA Novosti, July 11, 2003
According to Yavlinsky,
the President said that "basic constitutional
norms should be strictly protected."
Anti-Presidential
Plot Developing in Russia
By Alexei Bausin, pravda.ru, July 15, 2003
Experts think that one of the influential groups is
making attempts to stop liberal modernization based
on private business
Experts
Expose: Conspiracy Against the President
By Alexei Bausin, Nezavisimaya Gazeta, July 11, 2003
Political experts gathered yesterday at an emergency
meeting of the Open Forum Club and concluded unanimously
that President Vladimir Putin rather than the oligarchs
was the main target of the anti-YUKOS campaign.
Putin
Slams Big Business Lobbyists
By Catherine Belton, The Moscow Times, July 15, 2003
"I am, of course, opposed to arm-twisting and
jail cells. In general, I don't think this is the
method to deal with economic crimes..."
Market
Jittery Despite Rebound
By Igor Semenenko, The Moscow Times, July 15, 2003
The battered stock market on Monday recovered a bit
of the billions of dollars it has lost since authorities
first moved against Yukos, but with no resolution
of the conflict in sight it could be weeks or even
months before the full amount of the damage will be
known.
Illarionov
Raises Fear of Civil War
By Valeria Korchagina and Lyuba Pronina, Staff Writers,
The Moscow Times, July 15, 2003
If we start now to revisit privatization, it will
not be easy to stop this process, and it is not inconceivable
that such action will lead to a new civil war...
Russian
Oil Executive Faces Questioning
By Mara D. Bellaby, Associated Press, July 4, 2003
Grigory Yavlinsky,
leader of the liberal Yabloko party, called it a "political,
pre-election mop-up operation that is being carried
out to suppress political opponents," according
to the Interfax news agency.
Head
of Yukos: It's a Kremlin Struggle
By Simon Ostrovsky and Valeria Korchagina, The Moscow
Times, July 7, 2003
Khodorkovsky described the arrest last week of Platon
Lebedev, the head of Yukos parent company Group Menatep,
as an attempt to force him into throwing his weight,
and money, behind one of the factions.
Russian
Oil Man Arrested; Allies Blame Politics
By Sabrina Tavernise, The New York Times, July 4,
2003
In a political wrangle of a kind not seen in Russia
since the early days of Vladimir V. Putin's presidency,
the authorities have arrested a top executive at the
financial group that owns Russia's largest oil company.
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