Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Platon Lebedev have been accused repeatedly of misappropriation of the oil extracted by Yukos during 6 years and of legalization of profits out of selling it.  

In February 2007 the Prosecutor General’s office charged the two persons with violation of two articles of the Criminal Code (“Misappropriation or Embezzlement” and “Large Size Laundering”). Allegedly, they had stolen about 350 million tons of oil (the figure is equal to the entire extracted amount within the period 1998-2004) and laundered the profits in the size of 487 bn rubles and 7.5 bn dollars.     

Since then, the Yukos owners have been getting acquainted with the materials of their second criminal case (the first one ended in sentencing to 8 years of prison). The other day, the prosecution suspended that reading so that to re-formulate the charges. 30 June the investigators brought the determination to Khodorkovsky and Lebedev about new institution of criminal proceedings against them. However, either the accused themselves or their lawyers could not understand what exactly new is about the case, as the text of the bill of particulars is equal to that from last year, and the essence of the document remains the same.   

The indictment puts it that Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Platon Lebedev did not stop after their fraud in 1994-1996 with the shares of “Apatit”, but they stole and misappropriated with the use of complex manipulations with oversea offshores the 38% of the shares of the Vostochnaya Oil Company belonging to the state. Allegedly, then they began to steal the oil with the use of contracts signed between Yukos and its daughter extracting companies, which allowed the Yukos top management to steal the products and then sell it with doubled and even higher price, while laundering the money through offshores.   

The lawyers of the accused see the reason of the bringing “new” accusations in the wish by investigators to “kill time” while awaiting the new instructions and confirmations from above. In opinion by defense, some uncertainty by the prosecution bodies might be caused with changes that happened in the top level of the Russian authority. 

Vadim Kliuvgant, the lawyer of Mikhail Khodorkovsky says he does not know what the further developments will look like, but stated that the trial on Khodorkovsky-Lebedev case must be held in Moscow, and not in the city of Chita. “In accordance with the principle of territorial cognizance, fixed by the law, the case must be considered by the capital court, as all incriminated episodes took place in Moscow or abroad”. The lawyer of Platon Lebedev, Elena Liptser said her defendant is going to submit a supervisory complaint to the Supreme Court about the first sentence, in relation to the June’s decision by the Strasburg court saying that his rights were violated in the course of investigation.