<p>Billionaire Mikhail Khodorkovsky says working with the U.S. is his country's best economic hope, and he's pushing Putin to support BIf any Russian business magnate personifies the country's efforts to forge closer political and economic ties with the U.S., it's billionaire Mikhail Khodorkovsky, the 39-year-old chairman of Moscow-based Yukos, Russia's second-largest oil company. A frequent visitor to Houston and Washington, Khodorkovsky has hired top American executives to help him manage Yukos and views the U.S. as a crucial source of technology and knowhow for post-Soviet Russia's emerging capitalist economy. He also sees the U.S. as a vital market for Russia's oil and other exports.</p>
