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Politics : Israel to U.S. : Now Deal with Syria and Iran -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Ed Huang who wrote (4239)	1/27/2004 11:46:44 AM
From: Ed Huang	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 22250

The struggles between the Russian government and the Russian Israeli tycoons continue. ------------------------------- Warrants Issued for 10 Yukos Men Mr Khodorkovsky remains in jail Russian authorities have renewed the pressure on embattled oil giant Yukos by issuing international arrest warrants for 10 of its people. The names passed onto Interpol include major shareholders Leonid Nevzlin, Vladimir Dubov and Mikhail Brudno, who are believed to have fled to Israel. They and the seven Yukos employees are accused of fraud and other offences. Yukos boss Mikhail Khodorkovsky was jailed in 2003 on charges many Russians believe are politically motivated. His taking into custody - on fraud and tax evasion changes - and the widening pressure on the company have been denounced by critics as an attempt by the Russian government to keep Mr Khodorkovsky out of politics. Political pressure? President Vladimir Putin comes up for re-election in March, and Mr Khodorkovsky - who remains in jail - was thought to have been considering a challenge. In late December a Moscow court ruled he would have to stay in jail until 25 March. Yuri Biryukov, first deputy to Russia's General Prosecutor, said Mr Nevzlin faced charges of property embezzlement, Mr Dubov was accused of theft of state funds, and Mr Brudno faced charges of stealing revenues of third parties. The seven others are accused of setting up firms that helped Yukos evade taxes. "All of them are mentioned in an international warrant sanctioned by the court," said Mr Biryukov. Taxing issue He added, "They are accused of evading payment of taxes and a number of other crimes." Yukos, Russia's largest oil company, again reported that it had a clean tax record and could not understand why its representatives should be under suspicion. At the same time as Mr Khodorkovsky was jailed last October, Russian authorities froze about 40% of Yukos shares. The Russian tax ministry says the company owes $3.3bn (£1.8bn) in back taxes and fines, roughly equivalent to the firm's net profits for 2002. Yukos has insisted that it has used only legal techniques to keep its tax bill down. news.bbc.co.uk