Energy Politics

Former Yukos CEO Mikhail Khodorkovsky is facing restated charges in his “oil theft” case, which means the Russian government is ready to start throwing more scary terms around to railroad him.

This means that the prosecutors have stopped Khodorkovsky from being able to research the criminal case against him, which his lawyers argue is unlawful.

The former Yukos CEO was charged with tax evasion a few years ago for taking advantage of tax shelters that were offered by the government. The prosecutors argue that former Russian oil giant Yukos was formed with stolen assets, and that Khodorkovsky and business partner Platon Lebedev embezzled somewhere to the tune of $7.5 billion between 1998 and 2004 under the government’s noses.

Now of course, Khodorkovsky was a useful person for the country during the 90s when they needed an influx of capital badly. But he suddenly became an enemy of the people once he started making political noise that rankled Fearless Leader Vladimir Putin, particularly the kind that would take power out of the government’s hands and give it to, you know, the people.

But such is the way of the world. Sleep, dear Russia. Sleep in bliss with a splash of vodka. You leaders have your best interests in heart. Remember, the government only does this to people who are clearly guilty, right?

–Stephen Payne, Editor, Oil and Gas Investor This Week; www.OilandGasInvestor.com; spayne@hartenergy.com

You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.