Threat to revoke Yukos licenses

From BBC News:


The Russian government's attack on Yukos has deepened with the publication of comments by a minister suggesting the national oil giant will be stripped of some of its exploration licences. "The failure or the partial failure to fulfil licence obligations - almost inevitably in the current situation - will immediately lead to withdrawal of licences for its oilfields," Natural Resources Minister Vitaly Artyukhov told a state newspaper. "The reasoning here is obvious: a company which has had a controlling packet of shares frozen is hardly an appropriate partner for cooperation with the federal licensing body," he was quoted in Rossiiskaya Gazeta as saying.

The comments came 11 days after Yukos's controlling shareholder Mikhail Khodorkovsky was arrested and jailed on charges on fraud and tax evasion. A block of shares that he controls, amounting to more than 40% of the company, was later frozen by Russian authorities. Mr Khodorkovsky resigned as chief executive on Monday and was replaced by Russian-born US citizen Simon Kukes. Many Russians believe the case against Mr Khodorkovsky, who made his fortune through controversial privatisations in the 1990s, is politically motivated.

He has funded opposition groups, breaking what analysts say was a tacit agreement to stay out of politics in return for avoiding investigation of his financial affairs. The crackdown on Yukos and its then boss stirred fears of a wider confrontation between the Kremlin and big business. Russian President Vladimir Putin has defended his government's treatment of Yukos. He said the detention of Mr Khodorkovsky was a question of observing the law and denied his government was becoming more authoritarian. He also said Moscow was not considering renationalising privatised industries. On Tuesday, a Russian MP called for an investigation into alleged fraud at Sibneft, the oil firm controlled by Roman Abramovich that is being taken over by Yukos.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/3243303.stm

Of course Khodorkovsky's arrest is politically motivated.

On the other hand, of course Khodorkovsky didn't come by his 8 billion dollars honestly, any more than Bill Gates did.

Of course Putin is KGB scum.

When all the actors are as evil as this, you just hope they all end up killing each other off.

one might think Mr. Khodorkovsky is a bit of
a moron to piss him off ...