I am ignorant on this Yukos/Russia stuff. Anyone know whats going on?

[NNN0LHI]

Yukos: Russia hits back at U.S.

http://edition.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/europe/11/01/yukos/

MOSCOW, Russia -- Russia has hit back at U.S. criticism of prosecutors' handling of a legal case against oil giant Yukos, calling the State Department's remarks "disrespectful."

U.S. State Department Spokesman Richard Boucher said Friday that the Kremlin should act to dispel concerns that the arrest of the boss of Yukos, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, was not politically motivated. His comments were echoed by Germany.

"They need to ensure that it's judged fairly and with full regard for due process of law applied in a non-selective fashion," Boucher said.

Foreign Ministry Spokesman Alexander Yakovenko, speaking to First Channel television on Saturday, said: "This statement is a continuation of a notorious policy of double standards.

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http://news.ft.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=FT.com/StoryFT/FullStory&c=StoryFT&cid=1066565543291

Bush urged to take a fresh look into Russian soul

By Guy Dinmore in Washington
Published: October 31 2003 20:22 | Last Updated: October 31 2003 20:22

Confident of his ability to determine the character of a man, President George W. Bush struck up a close relationship with Russia's Vladimir Putin the first time they met more than two years ago, declaring afterwards: "I was able to get a sense of his soul."

That bond was strengthened after the al-Qaeda attacks on the US mainland, when the Russian president gave strong backing to the "war on terror". But now there is deep concern among US business and political circles that Mr Bush has overlooked what they see as Russia's slide back towards authoritarianism.

"It's very important that Bush takes another look at that soul," said Stuart Eizenstat, a former US deputy treasury secretary and member of the international advisory board that assists the senior officers of the Yukos oil company.

The stakes were much higher than the arrest of Mikhail Khodorkovsky, chief executive of Yukos, and would determine whether Russia continued on the path of strengthening democratic and economic reforms "or returns to a more statist, semi-totalitarian, autocratic direction", Mr Eizenstat told the Financial Times.

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[DUreader]

1. I can only guess from the Outcry by Awol, that his Buddy got busted

Guess W* didn't see this coming when he gazed in Pooty's eyes

[NNN0LHI]

2. Got that out of it, but there is more going on here that is not so obvious

I just can't figure the whole thing out yet. Especially the behind the scenes stuff. What is actually driving these moves by Putin?

Don

[La_Serpiente]

3. The guy who he arrested

i forgot his name, but he owned the largest Oil company in Russia and was the richest man in Russia. He was giving campaign donations to his competitor, and perhaps Putin wanted to cut off his source of supply.

Russia is losing many of its free speech too. Luckily, the Supreme Court just overturned a law stating that no media outlet can analyze any candidate's programs.

[0007]

5. From what I've gathered is that Putin

is positioned to stop or slow down the corruption in Russia. Yukos was allegedly caught in a scam or fraud. (Ken Lay style.) The US is more or less accusing Russian of old Soviet Union tactics.

I think what we have is two corrupt counties throwing dirt at each other.

[SadEagle]

11. The corruption there is very different.

What happened is that large government operations, after the transission into "market" economy were privatized. As one may expect, that means that the control of some huge near-monopolies got transfered to politically-connected men of questionnable ethics for ridiculously small sums.

Could be a bit of a preview of future privatizations in Iraq..

[DUreader]

6. I'm just as curious about this as you, Don, hope for more this week

Oversea's press out to have some good analysis soon and

maybe some real investigative reports

[SadEagle]

7. IIRC, by the BBC reports...

...The guy was supporting with $$ some people opposed to Putin, which made the government stop turning their back on the company's shady practices. And no, this is far from the worst thing Putin ever did. For instance he signed a law that'd forbid journalists from dicussing political candidates w/o their consent (one that got overturned by courts). Killings of journalists are pretty common there; and owners of TV networks critical of the government had repeatedly been targets of investigations. And let's not talk about Chechnya, which frankly makes the war in Iraq look brilliant in goal and execution.

[Don_G]

9. I Can't Figure It All Out Either

We just don't know enough yet.

I can add that Poppy B was in Russia a few months ago and I get the impression the Russians are terrified that the capital they need to bring their country into the 21st Century will leave the country.

I don't know what they call their modernized KGB now (RSVD?) but I wouldn't call them stupid, financially/technologically ignorant compared to the west or poor students of history.

[WhoCountsTheVotes]

4. Watch this one closely - do rich people have more rights than anyone else?

The euphemisms they use in the Yukos story are quite interesting. During the era of "privatization" in Russia, eight oligarchs - yes, they openly call them oligarchs - bribed, stole, murdered and terrorized their way into controlling half the nation's wealth. In the US, we change the laws so very little illegal bribing, stealing, and murdering takes place, it's mostly legal.

Putin thinks these oligarchs - Russia's new corporate elite - have too much power, and he's taking down one of them who is getting involved in politics. You see, while Khodorkovsky was "earning" his fortune through "hard work" in the new capitalist Russia, he was taking a "political risk" - it looks like the risk is no longer paying off for him. Capitalists around the world are screaming because they expected to be above the law.

This is a war between government thugs and corporate thugs. The corporate media obviously prefers the corporate thugs. After all, we are all capitliasts here. If Khodorkovsky were Afghani, we would call him a "warlord" instead of "CEO".

[0007]

8. You said it better than I could, LOL!!

Thanks

[RandomUser]

18. "This is a war between government thugs and corporate thugs."

I think that sentence sums it up. There are no angels on either side. You have the corrupt corporate oligarchs and you have the anti-democracy kremlin. The oligarchs have indeed stolen much of Russia's wealth during the "privatization" era through a mix of corruption and bribery. The Kremlin under Putin is methodically cutting down political opposition, democracy advocates, or anyone who tries to institute free press that criticizes Putin.

[American Renaissance]

10. A criminal got arrested,

Khodorkovsky ripped off Russia for billions, he scammed Yeltsin into giving him and his cronies obscene favors in exchange for their support of his re-election.

He also cheated on his taxes,

Cry me a river, this is no worse than arresting Ken Lay and company, if someone in our god forsaken country had the nerve to.

[WhoCountsTheVotes]

12. Exactly like a cross between Ken Lay and Tony Soprano

You think capitalism in American is competitive? We have nothing on the Russians now, and watch out for the Chinese - Capitalism and Communism make a powerful combination.

(Sorry this is my second Soprano's reference tonight)

[NNN0LHI]

13. Thanks for the info on this thread

I think the consensus is pretty much we will have to wait and see what shakes down before we know more. Thanks.

Don

[DUreader]

14. Gaurdian has a new report up: Abramovich is next

http://www.guardian.co.uk/russia/article/0,2763,1076055,00.html




Russian multi-millionaire and Chelsea Football Club
owner Roman Abramovich is the next target on
the hit list of Kremlin hardliners with a grudge
against big businesses and the wealthy men who
run them, according to documents seen by The
Observer.

After last week's arrest of Mikhail Khodorkovsky,
Russia's richest man, as part of investigations into
his Yukos oil company, the Russian prosecutor's
office is under pressure to launch an investigation
into how the company that made part of
Abramovich's fortune was privatised during the
political turmoil of the 1990s.

It comes after an MP this weekend filed an official
complaint alleging widespread irregularities by
businessmen, including Abramovich.

The filing of the complaint against the privatisation
of Sibneft resembles the start of the investigative
procedure against Yukos in July.

[NNN0LHI]

15. Just found this on the CSM site. Kind of interesting

http://www.csmonitor.com/2003/1031/p01s03-woeu.html

Kremlin's corporate seizure as a war of elites

By Scott Peterson | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor

MOSCOW – Behind-the-scenes Kremlin intrigues are changing the face of Russia's ruling elite, as opposing factions parry and thrust to gain power.

In the latest, dramatic escalation in what is being seen as essentially a confrontation between the Kremlin and big business, Russian judicial authorities seized a large chunk of shares in oil giant Yukos yesterday.

The arrest last weekend of Yukos' head - Russia's richest man, the resulting chaos in Russia's markets, and the widely expected resignation of President Vladimir Putin's pro-business chief of staff have also exposed the longstanding tug-of-war that is finally coming to a head as key December and March elections near.

A group of Kremlin hawks loyal to Putin known as siloviki - many of them former KGB and security officials from St. Petersburg - has all but declared victory over its main rival, the influential "family" of superwealthy oligarchs close to former president Boris Yeltsin who engineered Putin's rise to power.

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[TreasonousBastard]

16. Today's NYT has some background

Putin and Shrub seem to share a certain disdain for some of the inefficiencies of a fair and properly working judicial system, although they are happy to give it lip service.

At any rate, Russia's system has a long way to go. the Stalinist approach is pretty well ingrained, and there aren't many Russians experienced in other ways.

They seem to be working on it, though. Slowly.

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/01/international/europe/01LEGA.html

[0007]

17. Dimitri Simes is on c-span

explaining everything you want to know. Washington Journal.