Posted on 12/28/2004 8:48:55 PM PST by NormsRevenge
MOSCOW – In his harshest criticism of the Kremlin to date, jailed tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky accused the Russian government of stealing his Yukos oil empire and warned in a letter published Tuesday that an ongoing crackdown on post-Soviet freedoms will ruin the country.
Writing from prison, where he has been for more than 14 months, Khodorkovsky said the sale of Yukos' main production unit into state hands this month "was the most senseless and destructive event in the economic sphere since President Vladimir Putin has taken helm."
"Using selective justice, introducing new legal norms and applying them retroactively," the state has undermined trust in the legal system, said Khodorkovsky, who is charged with fraud and tax evasion.
"Such methods damage the nation's reputation and hurt the economy, but those who initiated that don't care."
Putin has cast the 18-month crackdown on Khodorkovsky and Yukos as an effort to fight corruption and shady bookkeeping. But most observers see it as a vendetta for Khodorkovsky's perceived political ambitions, including his funding of opposition parties.
The culmination of the legal assault came Dec. 19, when Yukos unit Yuganskneftegaz, which produced 60 percent of the parent company's output, was sold at government auction to a shell company registered to the address of a bar in a provincial Russian town. The sale price was half of what Yukos and foreign auditors say it was worth.
State-run oil company Rosneft, whose board of directors is now headed by Putin's deputy chief of staff, covertly purchased the shell company. Both Rosneft and Yuganskneftegaz are being folded into gas giant Gazprom, creating a state-run company whose combined reserves will be six times that of Exxon Mobil.
Putin defended the auction as an effort by the state to defend its interests, but his own economic adviser, Andrei Illarionov, blasted the move Tuesday, calling it the "fraud of the year."
Khodorkovsky warned that Putin's efforts to strengthen government controls would trigger the nation's collapse. Putin is overhauling how local legislatures and governors are chosen and in recent years has muzzled the press, particularly television news broadcasters.
Khodorkovsky's latest letter contrasted sharply with those published earlier this year in which he apologized for his actions and praised Putin.
"I didn't just manage my property – it managed me in turn," he wrote in his latest letter. "I was forbidding myself to say many things, because that could hurt my property."
Khodorkovsky accused the state of "shameless" trampling on legal norms to wrest away Yukos. He called the government's $28 billion back tax claim, against which the Yukos unit was sold, a "bad joke," saying it exceeded the company's earnings.
The Yukos founder is seen as either a political prisoner targeted by trumped-up charges for funding opposition parties or a crooked tycoon who bought Yukos for a song in rigged auctions of the 1990s before funneling its revenues through offshore schemes and pocketing billions of dollars.
"The Yukos case isn't a conflict between business and state, but a politically and commercially motivated attack launched by one business, represented by officials, against another," Khodorkovsky wrote.
Khodorkovsky, who was No. 16 on Forbes' 2004 list of the world's richest people with an estimated $15 billion fortune, said his personal wealth "will soon come to zero." But he said losing it was not "unbearably painful."
Khodorkovsky also dismissed the criminal charges against him but said he was told authorities wanted to put him in prison for at least five years, fearing he will take revenge.
He denied such intentions, saying he would rather "breathe fresh spring air, play with children ... and read good books."
Khodorkovsky has twin 5-year-old sons.
The liberals will be delighted that the USSR isn't dead.
And who is to argue with him?
Poor Mikhail! Pooty stole all fifteen of his billions.
I guess the oil-for-food racket didn't payoff well enough for Putin. ;-)
For some reason I have no sympathy for Mikhail Khodorkovsky...The government stole back what he stole from the government.
I spent the lingering, smouldering days of the 9/11 aftermath with this guy. I didn't think he was a crook, I thought he was pretty serious about running a good oil company. He told me all of the basics because I didn't know any of them. He carried his own luggage, too, and had a charming humility. He even wore the same suit day after day, which was sort of interesting for a guy that rich. He had the most beautiful glasses, I would kill for a pair of those. He also told me he hated bin Laden like you wouldn't believe and was fascinated with a zapf dingbats coding on one of the 9/11 wordings, in those days I think we all were.
"will ruin the country" will?? what's it like now, paradise?
Yes, but of course. Ying and Yang ya know.
This creates a counter-balance to US hegemony.
Ping
DAMNNN when did Illya become JR Ewing Norm
I should read Interfax wire more often
Sigh. Who is John Galt?
http://education.yahoo.com/reference/encyclopedia/entry?id=18301
Galt, John
1779—1839, Scottish novelist. He went to Canada as secretary for the Canada Company, founding there in 1827 the town of Guelph and encouraging Canadian immigration. He wrote poems, blank-verse tragedies, and travel books, but he is known chiefly for his novels of Scottish country life, notably The Ayrshire Legatees (1821), Annals of the Parish (1821), and The Entail (1823). While traveling on the Continent as a young man, he made the acquaintance of Lord Byron, of whom he wrote a biography that appeared in 1830.
See his autobiography (1833); biography by I. A. Gordon (1973).
That has to be the most depressing and demoralizing post of all time!
John Galt is DEAD!
Well, his spirit lives on in those few of us who understand and appreciate what FREEDOM is.
Nonetheless, thanks for the chuckle.
Galt's travel books are diverting, but they were primarily traveling diaries, useful for gathering local color, but not for glimpsing the actual locales of the day. I prefer the Victorian Baedeker Guides, which provide maps and info on hotels, ferries, museums, and the like. They are also much cheaper (Baedekers were double the current price before Internet sales brought them down),
Thanks, though. I didn't know Galt was Scottish. ;)
Interesting personal account. Thanks.
"For some reason I have no sympathy for Mikhail Khodorkovsky...The government stole back what he stole from the government."
Nonsense. Khodorkovsky turned a state run company that was losing millions of dollars a year and owed billions into a company grossing over 5 billion a year. This quote from the article is exactly right.
"But most observers see it as a vendetta for Khodorkovsky's perceived political ambitions, including his funding of opposition parties."
During this same time period, the price of oil went from $9 per barrel to over $50. Also, when Putin took office, Russia has $12 Billion in foreign reserves. Now they have $120 Billion. Rising oil prices saved Russia after the collapse of the Ruble in August 1998, and also helped Yukos too.
"But most observers see it as a vendetta for Khodorkovsky's perceived political ambitions, including his funding of opposition parties."
I agree with you on that. Many people believe that is Khodorkovsky had stayed out of politics, he's still be running Yukos today.
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That's why their industrial sector is growing betwen 6-8% yearly with the main import being machinery for new factories, it is also why the IT sector is growing even faster. Sorry, you can wish it but short of the facists in the EU or China invading, they're not going to die off for you.
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