Khodorkovsky Offers to Stay Out of Oil Business

22 August 2008

By Nadia Popova / Moscow Times Staff Writer

CHITA — Jailed tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky told his parole hearing Thursday that if freed he would quit the oil business for good, and devote his life instead to humanitarian work and his family.

Looking relaxed and confident, he argued that, since all his wealth had been taken away from him, the authorities had no need to keep him any longer in jail, where he has served nearly five years of an eight-year sentence on tax and fraud charges.

"I'm not going to return to the oil and gas business or seek a review of the unjust decisions concerning Yukos after being set free," Khodorkovsky said in a short speech to the Ingodinsky District Court, glancing at written notes occasionally. "I will devote myself to humanitarian projects and, most importantly, my family."

Khodorkovsky's statement echoed one he made before his arrest in October 2003, when he said he planned to leave business by the age of 45. At the time, his comments were widely taken as a sign that he harbored political ambitions.

"Yukos, the company I created, [was worth] $40 billion. Today nothing belongs to me. … One can't take anything else from me, no matter how many years one keeps me behind bars," Khodorkovsky told the court. "I am not ashamed of my work. … I have managed to do a lot, and I hope that I will manage to do more."

Khodorkovsky's mother, Marina Khodorkovskaya, looked directly at her son in the small, packed courtroom, as he smiled mildly and looked down.

During the lunch recess, Khodorkovskaya said she expected her son to earn his fortune back, as he needed the financial resources to implement the humanitarian projects he had spoken of.

"He doesn't talk about his ideas as he doesn't want them to be stolen," she said, smiling enigmatically.

Even if granted parole, Khodorkovsky will not go free as he faces a new trial with his business partner Platon Lebedev on charges of embezzlement and money laundering that could add 22 1/2 years to his sentence.

Khodorkovskaya said she was pinning her hopes on President Dmitry Medvedev to allow her son to go free.

He "has spent too little time in power to judge what kind of president he is," Khodorkovskaya said. "I think he's having a hard time now."

Source: Moscow Times
http://www.moscowtimes.ru/article/600/42/370259.htm

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