Moscow, Nov 04: President Vladimir Putin sought to allay investor concern sparked by the Yukos case today, pledging that the state would not revisit the controversial privatisation deals on which the post-Soviet Russian economy is built. "I am categorically against revisiting privatisation results, even if... The results are far from ideal," Putin said in an interview published today. "In my deep conviction, this will lead to serious negative consequences for the economy and, as a result, for the social sphere," he said in an interview with Italian reporters published by the Interfax news agency on the eve of a Russia-EU summit in Rome. "So there will be no de-privatisation and no revisiting of the privatisation results. But everyone has to learn to live by the law, have to obey the laws of the country," the Russian leader said. Putin's comments were aimed at reassuring investors in Russia over the investigation against Yukos, the country's largest oil major whose corporate governance and transparency has made it an investor darling.
Prosecutors have investigated Yukos and its top shareholders for months and its Chief Mikhail Khodorkovsky was arrested on October 25 at gunpoint, charged with seven criminal counts of fraud and tax evasion and jailed while prosecutors continue their investigation.
Also last week, prosecutors froze a major stake in Yukos, sparking concern among investors that the move heralded a beginning of the state revisiting the controversial privatisations on which the Russian economy is built.
Bureau Report