Khodorkovsky Calls for Openness in Yukos Trial, Urges Compromise

Mikhail Khodorkovsky, a key shareholder and former head of the Yukos Oil Company distributed a statement on Tuesday evening in which he expressed regret over his request to replace Viktor Geraschenko as the company’s chairman and called for his allies to fulfill all court rulings while continuing to search for a compromise with the authorities.

“I confirm my deepest personal respect towards Viktor Geraschenko as a man and as a politician. I regret the consequences that are behind my request,” the statement read (last Wednesday Khodorkovsky’s lawyer told reporters that his client had recommended the company’s shareholders fire Gerashchenko).

“I understand all the steps that Viktor Vladimirovich [Geraschenko] considers necessary to take in order to protect the interests of all the employees and shareholders of the company and to arrange a dialogue with the government,” Khodorkovsky wrote.

“I would like to note that the transparency of the company’s decision-making procedures and financial reporting, their openness to the state structures and society leave no place for any ambiguity,” he continued.

“As for my personal position, I have only one — the court’s rulings must be observed and we must seek a compromise with the government that will allow Yukos to survive. The further development of the situation, including in the personnel sphere, depends solely on the authorities’ goodwill,” Khodorkovsky writes.


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