The Russian billionaire who this week announced his challenge to Vladimir Putin for Russia’s upcoming presidential election says his first move, if elected, would be to pardon jailed tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky. Mikhail Prokhorov, a metals magnate estimated to be worth some $18 billion, announced this week that he would seek the presidency in March. Khodorkovsky, [...]
Tag: mikhail khodorkovsky
December 16, 2011
December 14, 2011
Could Mikhail Prokhorov be the man to take on Vladimir Putin? | David Hearst
On paper, Mikhail Prokhorov has everything it takes to give Vladimir Putin a run for his money. At 46, he is rated Russia‘s third richest man by Forbes with a fortune of £11.5bn. He owns a private investment fund, co-owns Russia’s largest gold producer Polyus Gold, as well as Snob, a Russian-language magazine. In May, [...]
November 25, 2011
Khodorkovsky film premieres in Moscow despite cinema snub
It has been a long wait, but despite alleged attempts to ban it and only one Moscow cinema agreeing to show it, a documentary about jailed oil tycoon and outspoken Kremlin critic Mikhail Khodorkovsky has made its debut in the Russian capital. In the film business, the more scandal the better, and if you delve [...]
November 8, 2011
Russia on brink of stagnation – Khodorkovsky
Jailed tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky predicts an era of stagnation in Russia which will be followed by a political crisis and then a change of power – “hopefully, a bloodless one.” The former Yukos CEO believes that Vladimir Putin, who plans to run for the presidency in 2012, will neither leave power, nor find a successor. [...]
November 8, 2011
Khordokovsky rules out trading guilt admission for parole
Jailed Russian oligarch Mikhail Khodorkovsky has said he will never admit he is guilty of the crimes he was convicted of, even if offered early parole. Khodorkovsky, who has been convicted in two separate trials since his arrest in 2003, denies the charges against him. He claims his imprisonment over alleged tax evasion and [...]
November 2, 2011
October 27, 2011
Main news of October 27
WORLD * The UN Security Council ended the no-fly zone over Libya * Israeli authorities released 25 Egyptian prisoners to swap them for a U.S.-Israeli national held in Egypt four weeks ago on suspicion of spying, a spokeswoman for Israeli penitentiary department said * The European Parliament awarded the Sakharov Prize for freedom of thought [...]
October 26, 2011
Russian Opposition Demonstrates Solidarity With Khodorkovsky
ST. PETERSBURG, Russia — Opposition activists have rallied in St. Petersburg to demonstrate support for jailed former oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky, who was arrested exactly eight years ago, RFE/RL’s Russian Service reports. Khodorkovsky, the former CEO of the oil giant Yukos, and his close associate Platon Lebedev were convicted and sentenced for tax evasion in [...]
October 18, 2011
Russia’s investigation committee wants to set up finance police
Russia’s Investigation Committee has called for the creation of an independent body to investigate tax crimes. Russia’s tax authorities are not empowered to conduct investigations and searches connected with tax crimes, and the police do not have the special knowledge needed to investigate tax evasion, committee spokesman Georgy Smirnov said. That law enforecement function should [...]
October 15, 2011
Main news of October 15
RUSSIA * President Dmitry Medvedev said at a meeting with his supporters that Russia’s new government would consist of absolutely new people in case the ruling United Russia party wins the forthcoming elections * Medvedev also said the country’s system of public administration should be changed, and offered to establish a ‘large, or extended government’, [...]
October 11, 2011
Jailed Russian Official: Yukos Auction Was Staged
TULA, Russia — A former member of the ruling United Russia party says Russian authorities orchestrated the fraudulent sale in 2004 of a stake in the oil giant Yukos, RFE/RL’s Russian Service reports. Maksim Dudarev is a former aide to United Russia Chairman Boris Gryzlov and an ex-official at Rosgosimushchestvo, the state property agency. He [...]
October 4, 2011
Russian lawyer denied prison medical leave dies
A former Yukos oil executive whose struggle to win medical treatment for Aids and cancer came to symbolise the harshness of the Russian prison system, has died. Vasily Aleksanyan, a Harvard-educated lawyer who headed Yukos’s legal department and was briefly vice-president of the firm, was imprisoned in April 2006 as part of the sweep against [...]
October 4, 2011
Former Yukos Executive Dies At 39
A former Yukos executive who was jailed while seriously ill in 2006 has died. His family told the Dozhd Internet TV channel that Vasily Aleksanyan died on October 3 at his home in Moscow. He was 39. Aleksanyan was a vice president at Yukos, Russia’s largest oil company. He was arrested in 2006 on embezzlement [...]
September 23, 2011
Putin in key speech ahead of polls
Russia’s powerful Prime Minister Vladimir Putin delivered a key speech to his loyalists on Friday amid speculation that he may seek a return to the presidency. In a wide-ranging speech, Putin moved to defend the country’s legal system, saying it is “no worse” than America’s or the UK’s. He admitted however that the system, which [...]