The charges against Mikhail Khodorkovsky, is absurd

Former Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov is convinced the ex-Yukos head Mikhail Khodorkovsky and former head of MFO Menatep Platon Lebedev filed an absurd accusation. Recall, we are talking about the theft of 350 million tons of oil. "Talking about the theft of this magnitude ... my answer is simple - this could not be," - said Kasyanov during testimony in court Khamovnichesky Moscow. Work Yukos has been under the complete control of government. And it is on the methods of its work, it was no different from eight other major oil companies. "Interaction with the business was the norm for our government. No reports of violation of the law Yukos from the Ministry of Economy, Ministry of Energy, Ministry of Natural Resources and the Ministry of Taxes and Levies to me, as chairman of the government, it failed," - he said. However, he noted that law enforcement agencies did not submit to him. "The Yukos affair was a normal operation inherent in the entire oil industry as a whole," - he said. Kasyanov said that Yukos was the largest taxpayer, "and all flows of income and tax control." According to him, domestic prices were much higher than external. "This is all knew it was not classified information. And now lower prices, or the price of gasoline would have been like in the European Union" - said Kasyanov. Kasyanov also said that he considered the prosecution of Khodorkovsky's politically motivated, as the former head of Yukos financed opposition - not only the "Union of Right Forces and Yabloko, and the Communists." The witness said that in 2003 it became clear that between then-President Vladimir Putin and Mikhail Khodorkovsky, "there is tension." Kasyanov said that he was at a meeting of business representatives and Russian President. Then it was Putin. Khodorovsky at this meeting presented a report from the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs. In this paper, he raised the issue of corruption. As an example, he led the acquisition of Rosneft, one of the companies. "The reaction from the president was amazing, he bluntly responded and said that Yukos is not very fair was privatized. It was a feeling that the government puts pressure on the business," - said Kasyanov.