Head of Russia's largest oil producer detained

[dArKeR]

Moscow — Mikhail Khodorkovsky, the head of Russia's largest oil producer, Yukos, was detained early Saturday by security forces at an airport in Siberia, the Interfax news agency reported, citing Yukos company officials.

For months, the Russian prosecutor's office has been investigating Yukos company officials and Yukos shareholders seeking evidence of tax evasion and theft of state property.

Yukos spokesman Alexander Shadrin was quoted by Interfax as saying that the plane was surrounded by trucks after it landed in Novosibirsk for a refuelling stop.

Special forces in camouflage and black uniform boarded the plane, reportedly shouting “FSB, put your weapons down or we'll shoot.” The FSB is the acronym for the Federal Security Service, a successor of the Soviet-era KGB. A representative of the security forces then told Mr. Khodorkovsky to accompany them and he agreed.

http://theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20031025.wyukos1025_1/BNStory/International/

Can we ask the Russians to do this to Cheney to get him to answer question about the Energy Task Force?

[E_Zapata]

1. goodness, is Putin doing a clean sweep in the oligarchy?

God only knows what evil plans were hatched during bush sr's visit to russia.

[dArKeR]

2. No, he's just Whoring it for votes. They're probably best friends and

all was planned.

In this Russian election year, there's no more inviting target.

Lonely at the Top for Russia's Billionaires

http://democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=116&topic_id=2043

[dArKeR]

4. Maybe Putin paid him to take the rap so Putin would look like the

people's man for the upcoming election.

I've had more than a dozen friends open their own businesses in Moscow. They laugh when people talk about corruption/mafia in China!! They say you've seen nothing, Mafia, until you've been to Russia. Everything type of commerce pays to the Russia Mafia families.

I heard of so many stories!!!

Even crossing a bridge you're shaken down by children with guns/knives/weaspons.

This kind of stuff is common knowledge to all who do business or spend time in these types of places. Maybe our CIA is really that incompentent and misses these kinds of obvious things? But you surely don't hear this stuff being reported on network whore news.

[bleedingheart]

3. This is interesting because NPR did this whole piece on hiim

and how he was a big fan of democracy and how he was trying to turn a corner....

[legin]

5. Very roughly

One of the tax avoidance schemes I read in the paper a few weeks ago is:

A company in Russia sets up an off-shore company. The company in Russia then sells its output to the off-shore company for a nominal amount. The off-shore company then sells that output on at the market rate to customers. The profits are thus banked with the off-shore company and avoid Russian tax. I believe the scam usually relies on the Russian authorities 'looking the other way'.