Tag Khodorkovsky

He Who Must Not Be Named

For years, senior Russian officials avoided mentioning Alexey Navalny’s name on TV and in the press. It was hardly a sign of self-confidence and strength. This last Tuesday, Mikhail Khodorkovsky’s op-ed appeared in The New York Times urging Russian “democrats”…

A huge victory for the Kremlin, apparently

The Hague district court has annulled the 2014 ruling of the Hague-based Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA), which awarded $50 billion to former Yukos shareholders (Mikhail Khodorkovsky not being one of them) as compensation for the expropriation by Russian authorities. The reason for…

Leave if you’re not determined to fight

Mikhail Khodorkovsky speaking at the Le Monde anniversary celebration at the Opéra Bastille on 21 (?) September. An excerpt in my translation: Q. Let us discuss Ukraine, our European disaster. This year, you have visited Ukraine several times. You were…

Ten years after

Putin has commuted Mikhail Khodorkovsky’s sentence. According to the Russian prison service, he has been freed. Putin toadies say Khodorkovsky’s clemency petition implies admission of guilt. Of course it doesn’t. His mother is reported to be seriously ill – she’s…

What about Russian prosecutors and judges?

It’s pretty obvious to me now that Italian prosecutors and lawyers are well trained in sophistry, casuistry, Jesuitism and such. Their Russian counterparts are slowtard hicks and redneck louts in comparison. They’ve made some progress lately but it’s still a…

[Khodorkovsky Denied Bail by Court]

Khodorkovsky Denied Bail by Court. The judge who presided at the hearing at the Moscow City Court is known to have never reversed the Basmanny Court, which initially sanctioned Khodorkovsky’s arrest and has been dubbed the Prosecutor General’s pocket court.…

YUKOS update

American Named to Head Russian Oil Giant Mikhail Khodorkovsky resigned as CEO of YUKOS, Russia’s top oil company. Semyon Kukes, a Soviet-born US citizen who made a successful career with Amoco and went on to manage TNK, the Russian oil…

News from the Russian front, again

Alexandr Voloshin, Putin’s chief of staff, resigns over his opposition to Khodorkovsky’s arrest. Putin meets with top investment bankers based in Moscow. Global Markets Recoil at Russian Oil-Stock Seizure. Excuse me? Global markets? The Russian market is going down the…

[Yukos stake seized]

…Russian Prosecutors Seize Yukos Stake. So is this the apex of the witch hunt? Or just an episode in a saga? More likely one in a succession of future infamies. A while ago, Mike Pechar (Interested-Participant) sent me a link…