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Mikhail Khodorkovsky
Mikhail Borisovich Khodorkovsky (Russian: Михаил Борисович Ходорковский, IPA: [mʲɪxɐˈil xədɐrˈkofskʲɪj]; born 26 June 1963), often identified by his initials MBK, is an exiled Russian businessman, a figure once synonymous with the term oligarch, and now a prominent opposition activist, currently residing in London. Back in 2003, he was widely considered the wealthiest man in Russia, his fortune estimated at a staggering $15 billion. He even snagged the 16th spot on Forbes' list of billionaires. That’s a level of success that breeds a certain kind of respect, or perhaps, envy.
His ascent began within the ranks of the Komsomol, the Soviet youth league, during the twilight years of the USSR. He then pivoted, launching several businesses during the era of glasnost and perestroika in the late 1980s. By 1989, he was at the helm of Bank Menatep, a venture he co-founded. Following the seismic dissolution of the Soviet Union, the mid-1990s saw him amass substantial wealth. He achieved this by gaining control of vast Siberian oil fields, consolidated under the banner of Yukos. This was a prime example of the controversial privatization of state assets during the 1990s, a scheme infamously known as "Loans for Shares". It’s a period that defined a generation of Russian capitalism – messy, ambitious, and often brutal.
In 2001, Khodorkovsky established Open Russia, an organization with a stated aim of fostering reform and strengthening civil society within Russia. Then came October 2003. He was arrested, accused of fraud. The government, under President Vladimir Putin, swiftly moved to freeze Yukos's shares, citing tax irregularities. The Kremlin's actions continued, leading to the near-collapse of Yukos and the evaporation of much of Khodorkovsky's fortune. He was convicted in May 2005 and sentenced to nine years in prison. The legal saga didn't end there. In December 2010, while still incarcerated, he and his business partner Platon Lebedev were hit with further charges of embezzlement and money laundering, extending his sentence until 2014. It was only after considerable diplomatic pressure, notably from former German minister for foreign affairs Hans-Dietrich Genscher, that Putin granted Khodorkovsky a pardon, releasing him on December 20, 2013.
The international community largely viewed the trials and sentencing with suspicion, many believing they were politically motivated. Critiques were leveled against the perceived lack of due process in the proceedings. Khodorkovsky himself lodged applications with the European Court of Human Rights, alleging violations of his human rights. The court acknowledged several violations by Russian authorities in their treatment of Khodorkovsky concerning events from 2003 to 2005. However, it ultimately concluded that the trial itself was not politically motivated, but rather that the charges were based on "reasonable suspicion". Despite this, Amnesty International designated him a prisoner of conscience.
Upon his release, Khodorkovsky departed Russia, eventually gaining residency in Switzerland. His estimated net worth at the time was between 500 million by the end of 2014. He relocated to London in 2015. In December 2016, a significant portion of his assets, amounting to $100 million, were unfrozen by the Dublin District Court, having been held in the Republic of Ireland.
In 2014, Khodorkovsky revitalized Open Russia, focusing on reforms such as free and fair elections, political education, protection for journalists and activists, advocacy for the rule of law, and media independence. The Economist has since labeled him "the Kremlin's leading critic-in-exile."
Early Years and Entrepreneurship in the Soviet Union
Early Life and Education
Mikhail Khodorkovsky was born in Moscow in 1963. His parents, Boris and Marina Khodorkovsky, were engineers working at a factory that produced measuring instruments. His father was of Jewish heritage, while his mother was Orthodox Christian. Both harbored quiet dissent against communism, a sentiment they kept from their son. Growing up in the shadow of rising state anti-Semitism and the post-Stalin era, they represented a generation of educated Soviets who, while outwardly conforming, harbored internal reservations.
The family lived a modest but comfortable life in a two-room apartment in a Moscow suburb. As Masha Gessen observed, raising Mikhail presented a parental dilemma: to instill in him the critical thinking that might lead to hardship and the burden of doublethink and doublespeak, or to foster a contented conformist. They opted for the latter, a choice that yielded results far exceeding their expectations, as Mikhail became a fervent Communist and Soviet patriot, a seemingly anachronistic figure.
Ambitious and academically gifted, Khodorkovsky excelled in his studies. He rose through the ranks of the Komsomol at the D. Mendeleev University of Chemical Technology of Russia, graduating in 1986 with a degree in chemical engineering. During his university years, he married a fellow student, Yelena, with whom he had a son, Pavel. In 1986, he also met Inna, a student at the Mendeleev Institute and a colleague within the Komsomol organization. He pursued her ardently, even sleeping in his car until she relented. They later had a daughter and twin sons. His relationship with his first wife remained amicable, and she actively participated in the campaign for his release from prison.
First Business Activities
Upon graduation in 1986, Khodorkovsky entered the Komsomol full-time, a conventional route into Soviet political careers. However, instead of following the expected trajectory towards junior management positions in provincial administration, he began to exploit "quasi-official and often extra-legal business opportunities." With partners from the Komsomol, and technically operating under its auspices, Khodorkovsky established his first business in 1986: a private café. This venture was facilitated by Mikhail Gorbachev's reformist policies of perestroika and glasnost.
Perestroika provided Khodorkovsky with the leverage to utilize his connections within the Communist Party apparatus to gain a foothold in the nascent free market. Bolstered by support from influential figures, he initiated his business ventures under the Komsomol’s umbrella. His friendship with another Komsomol leader, Alexey Golubovich, proved particularly advantageous, as Golubovich's parents held senior positions at Gosbank, the State Bank of the USSR. Khodorkovsky’s early business interests reportedly included importing personal computers and, according to some accounts, dealing in counterfeit alcohol. He also delved into finance, finding ways to extract capital from the unwieldy Soviet planned economy.
Menatep
In 1987, Khodorkovsky and his associates founded a Center for Scientific and Technical Creativity of the Youth. Beyond the resale of computers, this "scientific" center engaged in the trade of a diverse array of goods, ultimately paving the way for the establishment of Bank Menatep.
Employees of the Bank of New York, closely linked with Bruce Rappaport, collaborated extensively with Menatep, assisting in its stock listing in the United States. Natasha Gurfinkel Kagalovskaya, wife of former Bank Menatep senior executive Konstantin Kagalovsky, began overseeing the Bank of New York's Eastern European operations in 1992. She had been a banker at Irving Trust since 1986, an institution acquired by the Bank of New York in 1988. Prior to this, Vladimir Kirillovich Golitsyn, also known as "Mickey" Galitzine, had headed the Bank of New York's Eastern European division and made his initial trip to Russia in 1990.
Khodorkovsky and his partners secured a banking license, allegedly funded by profits from selling used computers, to establish Bank Menatep in 1989. As one of the pioneering private banks in Russia, Menatep experienced rapid growth. A significant portion of its deposited funds were channeled into financing Khodorkovsky's import-export operations, a practice that raised eyebrows regarding its propriety. Furthermore, the government granted Bank Menatep the stewardship of funds designated for victims of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster. Khodorkovsky himself reflected on this period:
"Many years later I talked with people and asked them, why didn't you start doing the same thing? Why didn't you go into it? Because any head of an institute had more possibilities than I had, by an order of magnitude. They explained that they had all gone through the period when the same system was allowed. And then, at best, people were unable to succeed in their career and, at worst, found themselves in jail. They were all sure that would be the case this time, and that is why they did not go into it. And I...I did not remember this! I was too young! And I went for it."
It was during this formative period that Khodorkovsky acquired the Yukos oil company, reportedly for approximately $300 million through a manipulated auction. He subsequently embarked on a quest to attract foreign investment, securing hundreds of millions in loans. The devastating Russian financial crisis of 1998 led Khodorkovsky to default on some of his foreign obligations, and he moved Yukos shares offshore to shield them from creditors.
Yeltsin Adviser
Khodorkovsky also served as an economic advisor to the initial government of Boris Yeltsin. During the failed 1991 coup orchestrated by Communist hardliners, he was notably present at the barricades defending the White House in Moscow. Following this, having lost his conviction in Communism, he and his business associate Leonid Nevzlin penned a "capitalist manifesto" titled "The Man with the Ruble". This document proclaimed, in part: "It is time to stop living according to Lenin! ... Our guiding light is Profit, acquired in a strictly legal way. Our Lord is His Majesty, Money, for it is only He who can lead us to wealth as the norm in life."
Yukos Acquisition
In 1992, Khodorkovsky was appointed chairman of the Investment Promotion Fund for the fuel and power industry. His ascent continued in March 1993 when he was appointed Deputy Minister of Fuel and Energy of Russia. By 1996, Menatep had acquired Yukos, a major Russian oil producer burdened by debts exceeding 309 million.
As Gessen noted, the 1990s saw Khodorkovsky amass millions through currency trading. He also accumulated privatization vouchers—tokens distributed to every Russian citizen, granting them a share of national wealth, which many eagerly sold for immediate cash. Khodorkovsky eventually secured controlling stakes in approximately 30 companies. When Russia undertook its most significant asset giveaway in 1995, Khodorkovsky was strategically positioned to capitalize. Gessen elaborated that, after the fall of Communism, the Russian government still nominally controlled the country's largest enterprises, though they were often restructured, neglected, or plundered by their own management. A select group of individuals, the "new oligarchs," including Khodorkovsky, devised a scheme: they lent money to the government, using blocks of company stock as collateral, which represented controlling interests in those firms. The implicit understanding was that the government would default, and the companies would then pass into the hands of the oligarchs. "By this maneuver," Gessen wrote, "the Yeltsin administration privatized oil, gas, minerals, and other enterprises without parliamentary approval." This was the mechanism through which Khodorkovsky came to own Yukos.
Upon taking possession of Yukos, a conglomerate comprising over 20 entities, most were in a dire state. Khodorkovsky, however, relished the challenge of transforming them into efficient operations. According to Gellin, Khodorkovsky stood out among the oligarchs for his reticence, eschewing ostentatious displays like yachts or villas on the Côte d’Azur and avoiding the Moscow playboy scene. He did, however, acquire a secluded estate on 50 forested acres outside Moscow in the late 1990s, christening it Apple Orchard. This compound served as a communal residence for Yukos's top executives, fostering a sense of shared purpose. His social life largely revolved around barbecues for fellow Yukos managers. Nights were often spent reading until the early hours. He later reflected on this period: "I saw business as a game. ... It was a game in which you wanted to win but losing was also an option. It was a game in which hundreds of thousands of people came to work in the morning to play with me."
Nevzlin recounted an incident where Khodorkovsky, while on a business trip in Poland, learned that the Soviet economic-crimes unit was harassing Nevzlin, who feared arrest under Soviet-era laws. Nevzlin described the situation as "terrifying." Upon Khodorkovsky's return, his response was characteristically stoic: "Let me go home, take a shower, get some sleep, and we'll talk about it tomorrow morning." Nevzlin characterized Khodorkovsky as a "data addict," possessing an "iron will," and highly receptive to human input for information and ideas. While acknowledging Khodorkovsky's capacity for strong emotions, Nevzlin noted his ability to compartmentalize them.
European Union Bank in Antigua
For a brief period in 1994, Khodorkovsky served as a director of an online bank known as the European Union Bank, based in Antigua. The bank subsequently collapsed, with numerous banking regulators alleging it was a fraudulent operation.
Bank Failure
By 1998, Khodorkovsky had built an import-export business with an annual turnover of 80 million rubles (approximately US$10 million). However, the 1998 Russian financial crisis saw his bank fail and Yukos face significant challenges due to a plummeting oil price. This period marked a turning point for Khodorkovsky, who realized that "business could no longer be just a game" and that "capitalism could make people not only rich and happy but also poor and powerless." He consequently renounced his absolute faith in wealth, just as he had previously abandoned his unwavering belief in Communism.
Early Philanthropic Activities
Khodorkovsky, pictured in 2001, was not solely focused on accumulating wealth. After oil prices began to rebound, he established the Open Russia Foundation in 2001. This foundation was based at Somerset House in London, with Henry Kissinger serving as one of its trustees. Its stated mission was to "foster enhanced openness, understanding and integration between the people of Russia and the rest of the world." The foundation formally launched in the United States in Washington, D.C., the following year.
Beyond founding Open Russia, Khodorkovsky's philanthropic efforts were extensive. He funded Internet cafés in provincial towns to encourage communication, supported training programs for journalists nationwide, and in 1994, established a boarding school for disadvantaged children, enlisting his own parents to manage it. Estimates suggest he was supporting half, or even 80 percent, of all non-governmental organizations in Russia. In 2003, Yukos pledged $100 million over ten years to the Russian State Humanities University, a leading liberal arts institution, marking a significant contribution from a private company to Russian higher education.
He also initiated programs for teacher training via the internet, created forums for journalists to discuss reform and democracy, and funded foundations supporting archaeological digs, cultural exchanges, children's summer camps, and an orphanage.
Merger with Sibneft
In April 2003, Khodorkovsky announced that Yukos would merge with Sibneft, creating an oil entity with reserves comparable to major Western petroleum multinationals. Reports at the time suggested Khodorkovsky was in negotiations with ExxonMobil and ChevronTexaco regarding the potential sale of a substantial stake in Yukos. Sibneft itself was established in 1995, at the suggestion of Boris Berezovsky, and comprised some of the most valuable assets of a former state-owned oil company. In a contentious auction process, Berezovsky acquired 50% of Sibneft at a price widely considered to be significantly undervalued.
Following a confrontation with Putin, Berezovsky sought asylum in London and assigned his Sibneft shares to Roman Abramovich. Abramovich subsequently agreed to the merger. The combined entity, with 19.5 billion barrels (3 km³) of oil and gas reserves, would have possessed the world's second-largest oil and gas reserves, trailing only ExxonMobil, and would have ranked fourth globally in production, extracting 2.3 million barrels (370,000 m³) of crude daily. The merger was finalized in October 2003, just prior to Khodorkovsky's arrest. However, through a series of legally questionable maneuvers, former Sibneft shareholders managed to nullify the transaction.
2003: Richest Man in Russia
Khodorkovsky engaged McKinsey & Company to overhaul Yukos's management structure and Pricewaterhouse to implement a robust accounting system. Benefiting from rising oil prices, modernized operations, and increased transparency, Yukos experienced significant growth. By 2003, Khodorkovsky stood as Russia's wealthiest individual, with aspirations of becoming the world's richest. In 2004, Forbes ranked him 16th globally among the wealthiest, estimating his fortune at $16 billion.
Criminal Charges and Incarceration
2003 Arrest
In early July 2003, Platon Lebedev, Khodorkovsky's business partner and the fourth-largest shareholder in Yukos, was arrested on suspicion of illegally acquiring a stake in the state-owned fertilizer company Apatit in 1994. This arrest was followed by investigations into Yukos's tax returns and a delay in the antitrust commission's approval of its merger with Sibneft.
On the morning of 25 October 2003, Khodorkovsky was apprehended at Novosibirsk airport. He was subsequently transported to Moscow and charged with fraud, tax evasion, and other economic crimes. Gessen characterized the ensuing trial as a "travesty" and a "Kafka-esque procedure," detailing how the government presented a convoluted narrative of alleged violations that were either criminalized retroactively or were, in fact, legal actions. During the trial's preparation, Yukos employees were summoned for questioning. Pavel Ivlev, a tax lawyer representing them, later claimed he was illegally interrogated and threatened with arrest. Following his departure from the prosecutor's office, he immediately fled the country, eventually settling in the United States with his family.
The arrest was preceded by the publication of an analytical report titled "An oligarchic coup is being prepared in Russia," purportedly guided by political strategist Stanislav Belkovsky. This report accused the Yukos leadership of orchestrating a "plot of oligarchs" aimed at overthrowing Putin and transitioning Russia to a presidential-parliamentary system. The report alleged that Khodorkovsky and his associates funded multiple political parties, including Yabloko and the Union of Right Forces, and even the Communist Party of the Russian Federation (though they reportedly refused funds to United Russia). The report also cited close ties with journalists from various publications and the financing of annual awards and educational programs.
Reactions in Russia and Abroad
The news of Khodorkovsky's arrest sent shockwaves through the Russian stock market, leading to its first-ever temporary closure for an hour to stabilize trading amidst collapsing prices. Russia's currency, the ruble, also experienced a downturn as foreign investors expressed concerns about the market's stability. Media reactions in Moscow were overwhelmingly critical, with some pro-business publications lamenting the perceived end of capitalism, while even state-controlled media condemned the "absurd" method of Khodorkovsky's arrest.
Yukos moved swiftly to appoint Simon Kukes, a Russian-born U.S. citizen and experienced oil executive, as its CEO, replacing Khodorkovsky.
The U.S. State Department voiced concerns regarding Khodorkovsky's arrest, highlighting the "arbitrary use of the judicial system" and the potential damage to foreign investment in Russia, citing apparent "selective" prosecutions targeting Yukos officials.
A week after the arrest, the Prosecutor-General froze Khodorkovsky's Yukos shares, ostensibly to prevent their sale, though he retained voting rights and continued to receive dividends. In 2003, Khodorkovsky's Yukos shares were transferred to Jacob Rothschild as per a prior agreement.
On 28 June 2005, the newspaper Izvestia published an advertisement, an "appeal of the fifty" – a statement from cultural figures, scientists, and members of the public supporting the guilty verdict against the former Yukos leaders. The signatories expressed dismay at the resurgence of dissenting voices questioning the verdict's fairness, viewing the ensuing discussion as an attempt to discredit the entire judicial system, the state, and society, thereby undermining the foundations of law and order. Years later, in September 2009, the renowned figure skater Irina Rodnina stated she had not signed the letter and condemned such public appeals. Similarly, Anastasia Volochkova, another signatory, explained in a 2011 interview with Radio Liberty that she had been misled about the letter's content by United Russia. In February 2011, Alexander Buinov also expressed regret over his signature, admitting, "I have a feeling that I got into trouble then. In any case, there are insane acts that I am ashamed of ... If the interview with Radio Liberty is enough for my abdication, I am ready to say it now."
The First Trial, 2004–2005
The charges against Khodorkovsky and his associates centered on allegations that, in 1994, while chairman of Menatep, he "created an organized group of individuals with the intention of taking control of the shares in Russian companies during the privatisation process through deceit." This specifically implicated his alleged "illegal actions" during the privatization of the state-owned mining and fertilizer company Apatit.
Mikhail Khodorkovsky's long-standing business partner, Platon Lebedev, was arrested on 2 July 2003, and they faced trial together. Weeks later, Yukos's head of security, Alexei Pichugin, was arrested and became the subject of separate legal proceedings. Leonid Nevzlin of Menatep reportedly proposed at this juncture that he and Khodorkovsky should "leave the country and try to bargain from a position of freedom. We should take our money out and start a new business and a new life." Nevzlin followed this course, relocating to Israel, while Khodorkovsky remained in Russia. Gessen observed, "In his value system, fleeing the country once Lebedev was in jail would have been immoral... Regardless of whether he could do anything to help his friend." Instead, Khodorkovsky began delivering speeches advocating for Russia's social modernization and the embrace of an open, transparent economy, prioritizing technological advancement over its reliance on natural resources.
Khodorkovsky was represented in court by a formidable legal team led by Yury Schmidt and including Karinna Moskalenko. The prosecution maintained that their actions were independent of the presidential administration. The Prosecutor-General, Vladimir Ustinov, appointed by former President Boris Yeltsin, was not perceived as particularly close to Putin, who had reportedly attempted to remove him previously. However, Ustinov harbored political ambitions, and the prosecution of Russia's most prominent and successful businessman was seen as a significant boost to his career aspirations and potential candidacy for the Duma.
The first Khodorkovsky-Lebedev trial spanned ten months. The defense presented few witnesses, not only because the court rejected most of their motions but also due to the perceived flimsiness of the prosecution's case. Furthermore, testifying for the defense was considered risky, with ten individuals associated with Yukos, including two lawyers, already having been arrested, and nine others having fled the country to evade arrest.
Khodorkovsky and Lebedev were both found guilty and sentenced to nine years in penal colonies. The verdict, which closely mirrored the prosecution's indictments, ran to 662 pages. In accordance with Russian legal custom, the judges began reading the verdict aloud on 16 May 2005, concluding on 31 May. Khodorkovsky's lawyers alleged that the reading was deliberately slowed to minimize public attention.
Independent Support
Khodorkovsky garnered support from independent third parties who believed he was a victim of a politicized judicial system. On 29 November 2004, the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights released a report concluding that "the circumstances of the arrest and prosecution of leading Yukos executives suggest that the interest of the State's action in these cases goes beyond the mere pursuit of criminal justice, to include such elements as to weaken an outspoken political opponent, to intimidate other wealthy individuals and to regain control of strategic economic assets."
Additionally, Khodorkovsky received commendation and backing from members of the UK parliament, who expressed concerns about the decline of human rights in Russia.
In June 2009, the Council of Europe published a report criticizing the Russian government's handling of the Yukos case, titled "Allegations of Politically Motivated Abuses of the Criminal Justice System in Council of Europe Member States." The report highlighted:
"The Yukos affair epitomises this authoritarian abuse of the system. I wish to recall here the excellent work done by Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger, rapporteur of the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights, in her two reports on this subject. I do not intend to comment on the ins and outs of this case which saw Yukos, a privately owned oil company, made bankrupt and broken up for the benefit of the state owned company Rosneft. The assets were bought at auction by a rather obscure financial group, Baikalfinansgroup, for almost €7 billion. It is still not known who is behind this financial group. A number of experts believe that the state-owned company Gazprom had a hand in the matter. The former heads of Yukos, Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Platon Lebedev, were sentenced to eight years' imprisonment for fraud and tax evasion. Vasiliy Aleksanyan, former vice-chairman of the company, who is suffering from Aids, was released on bail in January 2009 after being held in inhuman conditions condemned by the European Court of Human Rights. Lastly, Svetlana Bakhmina, deputy head of Yukos's legal department, who was sentenced in 2005 to six and a half years' imprisonment for tax fraud, saw her application for early release turned down in October 2008, even though she had served half of her sentence, had expressed "remorse" and was seven months pregnant. Thanks to the support of thousands of people around the world and the personal intervention of the United States President, George W. Bush, she was released in April 2009 after giving birth to a girl on 28 November 2008."
Statements of support for Khodorkovsky and condemnation of the state's actions were issued by the Italian Parliament, the German Bundestag, and the U.S. House of Representatives, among numerous other official bodies. In June 2010, Elie Wiesel, a Holocaust survivor and human rights advocate, initiated a campaign to raise awareness of Khodorkovsky's trial and advocate for his release. In November 2010, Amnesty International Germany launched a petition drive urging President Medvedev to order an independent review of all charges against Khodorkovsky, coinciding with the 60th anniversary of the European Convention on Human Rights. On 24 May 2011, Amnesty International criticized the second trial of Lebedev and Khodorkovsky, labeling them prisoners of conscience and demanding their release upon completion of their initial sentences. A two-hour documentary detailing his plight was released in 2011. Yelena Bonner, widow of Andrei Sakharov, consistently defended Khodorkovsky, stating, "I think that any person becomes a political prisoner if the law is applied to him selectively, and this is an absolutely clear case. This is a glaringly lawless action." A cartoonist present at the trial created a series of cartoons comparing Khodorkovsky's trial to the events in Franz Kafka's The Trial. As of August 2015, these cartoons were exhibited at the Dox Gallery in Prague.
In Prison
On 30 May 2005, Mikhail Khodorkovsky was sentenced to nine years in a medium-security prison. At the time, he was held at Matrosskaya Tishina, a Moscow detention facility. On 1 August 2005, a political essay penned by Khodorkovsky from his prison cell, titled "Left Turn," was published in Vedomosti. In it, he advocated for a shift towards a more socially responsible state, stating:
"The next Russian administration will have to include the Communist Party of the Russian Federation and the Motherland Party, or the historical successors to these parties. The left-wing liberals, including Yabloko, and right-wing Ryzhkov, Khakamada and others should decide whether to join the broad social-democratic coalition or to remain grumpy and without relevance on the political sidelines. In my opinion, they have to join because only the broadest composition of a coalition in which liberal-socialist (social-democratic) views will play the key role can save us from the emergence, in the process of this turn to the left turn, from a new ultra-authoritarian regime. The new Russian authorities will have to address a left-wing agenda and meet an irrepressible demand by the people for justice. This will mean in the first instance the problems of legalizing privatization and restoring paternalistic programs and approaches in several areas."
On 19 August 2005, Khodorkovsky announced a hunger strike in protest against the placement of his friend and associate, Platon Lebedev, in the prison's punishment cell. Khodorkovsky claimed Lebedev suffered from diabetes mellitus and heart problems, and that keeping him in isolation would be tantamount to murder.
On 31 August 2005, he declared his intention to run for parliament. This move was facilitated by a legal loophole: while convicted felons are barred from voting or holding office, individuals with pending appeals still retained their electoral rights. Typically, appeals took about a year to process, potentially providing Khodorkovsky with sufficient time to secure election. Imprisoned members of the Russian parliament required parliamentary consent to have their immunity revoked, offering him a potential avenue to avoid further prosecution. However, the Court of Appeal, in an unusual swiftness, processed Khodorkovsky's appeal within weeks, reducing his sentence by one year and invalidating any electoral aspirations until the conclusion of his term.
As reported on 20 October 2005, Khodorkovsky was transferred to the labor camp YaG-14/10 (Russian: Исправительное учреждение общего режима ЯГ-14/10) in the town of Krasnokamensk in Zabaykalsky Krai. This camp was situated adjacent to a uranium mine it once supplied. Khodorkovsky was assigned work in the colony's mitten factory. He slept in barracks and frequently endured solitary confinement in cold cells as punishment for alleged rule violations.
The second installment of Khodorkovsky's essay "Left Turn" was published in Kommersant on 11 November 2005, elaborating on his social democratic views.
On 13 April 2006, Khodorkovsky was assaulted by an inmate named Alexander Kuchma while he slept, following a heated exchange. Kuchma inflicted a knife wound to Khodorkovsky's face, claiming it was in response to alleged sexual advances. Western media outlets accused Russian authorities of downplaying the incident. In January 2009, Kuchma filed a lawsuit for 500,000 rubles (approximately $15,000) against Khodorkovsky, accusing him of homosexual harassment. Kuchma later stated in an interview that he had been coerced into attacking Khodorkovsky by two officers who beat and threatened him with death. In 2011, Kuchma admitted he was instructed to attack Khodorkovsky "by unknown persons who had come to the prison colony and beaten and threatened him."
On 5 February 2007, new charges of embezzlement and money laundering were levied against both Khodorkovsky and Platon Lebedev. Khodorkovsky's supporters pointed out that these charges emerged mere months before Khodorkovsky and Lebedev would have been eligible for parole and less than a year before the next Russian presidential election.
On 28 January 2008, Khodorkovsky commenced a hunger strike to support his associate Vasily Aleksanyan, who was gravely ill and held in jail without adequate medical treatment. Aleksanyan was transferred from a pre-trial detention center to an oncological hospital on 8 February 2008, after which Khodorkovsky ended his strike.
"No single cause has done more than Khodorkovsky's to inspire Russian speakers everywhere," Gessen wrote in 2012. "Three of Russia's best-selling writers have published their correspondence with Khodorkovsky; composers have dedicated symphonies to him, a dozen artists attended his trial and put together an exhibition of courtroom drawings." Gessen also noted that "a group of Soviet-born classical musicians traveled to Strasbourg to mount a concert in honor of Khodorkovsky." While Khodorkovsky was imprisoned, the Estonian composer Arvo Pärt composed his Symphony no. 4, dedicating it to him. The symphony premiered on 10 January 2009 in Los Angeles at the Walt Disney Concert Hall, conducted by Esa-Pekka Salonen.
Khodorkovsky spent over half of his incarceration period at the Matrosskaya Tishina Detention Facility in Moscow, where, according to Gessen, "living conditions are far more punishing than those in a distant penal colony." Nevertheless, Gessen observed, he "declined to describe" the specific conditions of his imprisonment, "arguing that he is no different from other inmates."
During his imprisonment, Khodorkovsky announced his intention to research and write a PhD dissertation on Russian oil policy. The third part of Khodorkovsky's essay/thesis, "Left Turn," subtitled "Global Perestroika," was published in Vedomosti on 7 November 2008. In it, he posited:
"Barack Obama's victory in the US presidential elections is not simply the latest change of power in one individual country, albeit a superpower. We are standing on the threshold of a change in the paradigm of world development. The era whose foundations were laid by Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher three decades ago is ending. Unconditionally including myself in that part of society that has liberal views, I see: ahead – is a Turn to the Left."
In May 2010, Khodorkovsky participated in a two-day hunger strike to protest what he alleged was a violation of a recent law prohibiting imprisonment for financial crimes. This law had been championed by President Medvedev following the death of Sergei Magnitsky in pre-trial detention in a Moscow prison in 2009.
On appeal, the sentences for Khodorkovsky and Platon Lebedev were reduced from 11 years to 10 years and 10 months, implying potential release in August 2014 and May 2014, respectively. Khodorkovsky's appeal statement noted: "In this case, the usual mantra that everything is legal and well-grounded just won't do." He authored a book, My Fellow Prisoners, detailing his experiences during incarceration. Khodorkovsky has spoken about how his imprisonment fundamentally altered his "value system," prioritizing aspects of life beyond business pursuits.
Political Transformation
The Economist, in an April 2010 article, asserted that after six years of imprisonment, Khodorkovsky had undergone a political metamorphosis from an oligarch into a political prisoner and freedom fighter. The publication stated: "He speaks with the authority of a chief executive of what was once Russia's largest oil company. He explains how Yukos and Russia's oil industry functioned, but he goes beyond business matters. What he is defending is not his long-lost business, but his human rights. The transformation of Mr. Khodorkovsky from a ruthless oligarch, operating in a virtually lawless climate, into a political prisoner and freedom fighter is one of the more intriguing tales in post-communist Russia."
Khodorkovsky’s political evolution is evident in his writings from prison. On 26 October 2009, he responded to Dmitri Medvedev's "Forward, Russia!" article in Vedomosti, arguing that "authoritarianism in its current Russian form does not meet many key humanitarian requirements customary for any country that wishes to consider itself modern and European." In a 28 January 2010 op-ed for the New York Times and International Herald Tribune, Khodorkovsky contended that "Russia must make a historic choice. Either we turn back from the dead end toward which we have been heading in recent years – and we do it soon – or else we continue in this direction and Russia in its current form simply ceases to exist." On 3 March 2010, Khodorkovsky published an article in Nezavisimaya Gazeta discussing the "conveyor belt" of Russian justice, stating that the "siloviki conveyor belt, which has undermined justice is truly the gravedigger of modern Russian statehood. Because it turns many thousands of the country's most active, sensible and independent citizens against this statehood – with enviable regularity." The Economist concluded that any pronouncements by the Kremlin regarding the rule of law or modernization would be mere puffery as long as Mr. Khodorkovsky remained imprisoned.
Second Trial, 2009–2010
Charges
Khodorkovsky became eligible for parole after serving half of his original sentence. However, in February 2007, state prosecutors initiated new charges of embezzlement, leading to a second trial that commenced in March 2009.
Prosecutors leveled new charges against Khodorkovsky, alleging the theft of 350 million tons of oil. Kommersant described these charges as having "Compared with the previous version, only stylistic inaccuracy has been improved, and some of the paragraphs have been swapped." Critics pointed out the inherent contradiction: Khodorkovsky had already been convicted of tax evasion related to the same allegedly stolen oil. According to Khodorkovsky's lawyer, Karinna Moskalenko, "The position of the prosecutors is also self-contradictory. ... Khodorkovsky is now serving a sentence for tax evasion, and if they are asserting that he stole all the oil his company produced, what did he go to prison for the first time if there was nothing to be taxed?"
"If the first set of charges was thin, the second was absurd," Gessen later wrote. Khodorkovsky and Lebedev were now accused of stealing all the oil Yukos had produced between 1998 and 2003. At the conclusion of the trial in December 2010, both defendants received sentences of 14 years' imprisonment. Gessen cited prominent Russian lawyers who argued that Russian laws had been "passed specifically to enable [Khodorkovsky's] persecution, or adjusted retroactively to sustain it." Many former Yukos employees were arrested and imprisoned, rendering them unemployable after their release. Khodorkovsky reportedly endeavored to provide financial support to those struggling to find work.
Khodorkovsky delivered his own closing statement at his second trial. He spoke of his countrymen's aspirations for "Russia to finally become a land of freedom and the law, and the law will be more important than the bureaucrats," a nation where "human rights will no longer be contingent on the whim of the czar, whether he be kind or mean. Where the government will be accountable to the people and the courts will be accountable only to God and the law." He added, "I am not an ideal man, far from it. But I am a man of ideas. Like anyone, I have a hard time living in prison and I do not want to die here. But I will, if I need to, without a second thought."
During a visit to Moscow in July 2009, President Barack Obama commented, "it does seem odd to me that these new charges, which appear to be a repackaging of the old charges, should be surfacing now, years after these two individuals have been in prison and as they become eligible for parole."
The verdict, initially scheduled for 15 December, was postponed without explanation until 27 December. Just days before the judge was to deliver the verdict, Vladimir Putin publicly commented on Khodorkovsky's guilt, stating, "a thief should sit in jail."
On 14 January 2020, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that Russia had violated Article 6, Article 7, and Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights.
Judicial Controversy
On 14 February 2011, Natalya Vasilyeva, an assistant to Judge Viktor Danilkin, claimed that the judge had not authored the verdict and had read it under duress. Vasilyeva asserted that the judge's verdict had been "brought from the Moscow City Court." She further stated that "everyone in the judicial community understands perfectly that this is a rigged case, a fixed trial." On 24 February, Vasilyeva underwent a polygraph test, which indicated that she likely believed Danilkin had acted under pressure. Judge Danilkin dismissed her claims as "slander."
Appeal and Amnesty International Statement
On 24 May 2011, Khodorkovsky's appeal hearing took place, and Judge Danilkin rejected the challenge. Following this decision, the human rights organization Amnesty International declared Khodorkovsky and Lebedev "prisoners of conscience," issuing a statement that "Whatever the rights and wrongs of Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Platon Lebedev's first convictions there can no longer be any doubt that their second trial was deeply flawed and politically motivated." On 25 October 2013, the Berlin International Literature Festival organized a worldwide reading in solidarity with Mikhail Khodorkovsky, Platon Lebedev, and all political prisoners in Russia.
In June 2011, Khodorkovsky was transferred to prison colony No. 7 in Segezha, located in the northern region of Karelia, near the Finnish border.
Release
Presidential Decree No. 922, granting pardon to Mikhail Khodorkovsky, dated 20 December 2013.
According to his official website, Khodorkovsky was eligible for early release. However, an alleged conspiracy involving prison guards and a cellmate led to a report of him violating prison rules. This was deemed sufficient grounds to forfeit his release rights once logged in his file.
His release was anticipated around mid-2011. However, on 27 December 2010, Khodorkovsky was found guilty of new charges of embezzlement and money laundering, potentially leading to a new sentence of up to 22.5 years. In an interview with The Sunday Times from a remand prison in the Siberian city of Chita, 4,000 miles east of Moscow, he stated, "The second as well as the first case were organized by Igor Sechin."
On 22 August 2008, Judge Igor Faliliyev of the Ingodinsky district court in Chita, Zabaykalsky Krai denied Khodorkovsky parole. The stated reason included Khodorkovsky's "refusal to attend jail sewing classes."
In the second trial, prosecutors sought a 14-year sentence, just one year shy of the maximum. Judge Danilkin, delivering the verdict on 30 December 2010, upheld the prosecutors' recommendations. Factoring in the time already served, Khodorkovsky was scheduled for release in 2017. U.S. President Barack Obama, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, and British Foreign Secretary William Hague condemned or expressed concern over Khodorkovsky's extended sentence, with the White House stating it cast doubt on Russia's legal system.
On 15 February 2011, Vyacheslav Lebedev, chairman of Russia's Supreme Court, proposed reviving a Soviet-era practice where the maximum sentence for multiple crimes would not exceed the sentence for the most serious offense. In Khodorkovsky's case, this would have meant a nine-year sentence, implying release in October 2012. This did not materialize.
On 5 March 2012, the day after Putin secured his third term as president, President Medvedev ordered a review of Khodorkovsky's sentence. In December 2012, a Moscow court reduced Khodorkovsky's prison sentence by two years, adjusting his release date to 2014. Khodorkovsky's business partner, Platon Lebedev, also had his sentence reduced by two years in the same court case. The 2010 verdict would have meant their release 13 years after their arrests in 2003.
Upon Release from Prison (2013)
On 19 December 2013, President Vladimir Putin announced his intention to pardon Khodorkovsky in the near future. The pardon was granted the following day, with Putin citing Khodorkovsky's mother's illness and Khodorkovsky's own request for clemency. Putin also acknowledged that ten years in jail constituted a "significant punishment." Some opposition leaders speculated that the upcoming 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi may have influenced the decision. Khodorkovsky was informed by his guards to pack his belongings and was immediately flown to St. Petersburg. There, he was given "a parka and a passport" and, after a tarmac change of planes, boarded a flight to Berlin. The Guardian, in December 2014, reported that Khodorkovsky had "promised Putin three things in a handwritten letter" requesting his freedom: that he would leave Russia to be with his family, abstain from politics, and not attempt to reclaim his Yukos shares or engage in related legal disputes. Khodorkovsky, however, maintains he made no such promises.
Upon regaining his freedom, Khodorkovsky issued a statement expressing gratitude to former German foreign minister Hans-Dietrich Genscher for his crucial diplomatic role in securing his release.
On 22 December 2013, two days after his release, Khodorkovsky held a press conference at the Checkpoint Charlie Museum in Berlin. The Associated Press reported his comments, stating that the "50-year-old appeared composed at his first public appearance since his release, saying he shouldn't be viewed as a symbol that there are no more political prisoners in Russia. He added that he would do 'all I can do' to ensure the release of others." He reiterated his thanks to Genscher, the media, and German Chancellor Angela Merkel for their contributions. On 24 December, Khodorkovsky was interviewed on the BBC television program Hardtalk from his Berlin hotel room.
Following his release, Khodorkovsky acknowledged the support received from the Swiss Federal Court, which in 2008 ruled against releasing documents to Russian authorities that linked him and Yukos to prominent banks and financial institutions. The Swiss court reasoned that disclosure of such documents would jeopardize his chances of a fair trial. Khodorkovsky also has personal ties to Switzerland, where his wife Inna and two of his children reside. Shortly after his release, he applied for a Swiss visa, which would grant him travel privileges to most European countries. This visa was approved, and Khodorkovsky arrived in Basel, Switzerland, on 5 January 2014. In July 2014, Yukos shareholders were awarded $50 billion in compensation by the Permanent Arbitration Court in The Hague, although Khodorkovsky was not a direct party to this legal action. He moved to London in 2015.
On 23 December 2015, a Russian court issued an international arrest warrant for Khodorkovsky, who had been charged by the Investigative Committee of Russia with ordering the murder of Vladimir Petukhov, the mayor of [Nefteyugansk], who was killed in June 1998. Speaking on BBC that same day, which noted Khodorkovsky "spent much of his time in London," he indicated he was "definitely considering" applying for political asylum in the UK and felt safe in London. In December 2016, a court unfroze $100 million of Khodorkovsky's assets that had been held in Ireland.
Life in Exile (2013–Present)
Following his pardon and release on 20 December 2013, occurring concurrently with the release of members of the protest group Pussy Riot, Khodorkovsky made limited public appearances until the outbreak of the revolution in Ukraine. On 9 March 2014, in the aftermath of the Russian annexation of Crimea, Khodorkovsky addressed a crowd at Maidan Nezalezhnosti in Kyiv, accusing the Russian government of complicity in the killing of protesters.
In March 2014, Khodorkovsky was honored with the "Man of the Year" award by the Polish newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza. He also delivered keynote speeches at prominent events and institutions, including the Le Monde Festival, the Freedom House Awards Dinner, the Council on Foreign Relations, the Oslo Freedom Forum, Forum 2000, the Vilnius Forum, Chatham House, the World Economic Forum, Stanford University, and the Atlantic Council.
In May 2014, Khodorkovsky received praise from former Polish president Lech Wałęsa and was awarded for his efforts to reform Russian civil society. Khodorkovsky's mother passed away in the summer of 2014.
In July 2014, the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague ruled that the Russian government had deliberately bankrupted Yukos to seize its assets and ordered it to repay Yukos shareholders approximately $50 billion. Additionally, around 30,000 former Yukos employees were to receive substantial pensions from the government. As of January 2015, the Russian government had not made any payments to Yukos shareholders or employees. On 20 April 2016, the District Court of The Hague overturned the decisions of the Permanent Court of Arbitration, ruling that it lacked jurisdiction, as the provisional application of the Energy Charter Treaty arbitration clause contravened Russian law.
On 20 September 2014, Khodorkovsky officially relaunched the Open Russia movement. This relaunch featured a live teleconference connecting civil society activists and pro-democracy opposition groups in cities such as Kaliningrad, St Petersburg, Voronezh, and Ekaterinburg. Media reports at the time indicated that Open Russia aimed to unite pro-European Russians in an effort to challenge Putin's authority. Khodorkovsky stated that the organization would champion independent media, political education, the rule of law, support for activists and journalists, free and fair elections, and a reform program for law enforcement and the Russian judicial system. He asserted that Putin's actions were "clearly leading Russia along the patriarchal Asian path to development" and described the State Duma as "a bulwark of reactionaries." He further stated that Open Russia was prepared to support any candidate advocating for Russia's development along the European model.
In October 2014, Khodorkovsky visited the U.S., delivering the keynote address at a Freedom House meeting in Washington, D.C., and speaking at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York. During his speech in New York, he lamented that the perception of "the West as a sort of moral example for ourselves" had become "much, much more blurry" over the past decade or two. At the Freedom House event, he remarked, "Russia has been wasting time these past 10 years... Now is when we must begin to make up this lost time."
A 3 October 2014 article in the Wall Street Journal reported that Khodorkovsky planned "to bring about a constitutional conference that would shift power away from the Russian presidency and toward the legislature and judiciary." During his U.S. tour, he stated, "The question of Russian power won't be decided by democratic elections—forget about this. ... This is why, when we speak of strategic tasks, I speak of a constitutional conference that will redistribute power from the president" to other branches of government. On 2 December 2014, Khodorkovsky addressed the European Parliament.
Khodorkovsky's book, My Fellow Prisoners, a collection of sketches depicting his time in prison, was published in 2014. John Lloyd of the Financial Times described it as "vivid, humane and poignant." In December 2014, The Guardian reported that Khodorkovsky, residing in Zurich, was "plotting the downfall of the man who put him behind bars for a decade." The newspaper quoted him as claiming that Russian intelligence services were monitoring his communications. In early 2015, he told CNN that he had no desire to run for president and no political ambitions, viewing his efforts as "civic activity" rather than politics, though he still harbored aspirations for social change.
In March 2015, Khodorkovsky and other opposition figures were targeted by a clandestine organization known as Glavplakat. The campaign involved anonymous posters and banners displayed across Russian cities, portraying opposition figures alongside historical villains or labeling them as traitors to Russia. The perpetrators behind Glavplakat remain unknown, and opposition figures have expressed concern over these attacks.
In August 2015, the Kremlin summoned Khodorkovsky's father for questioning. On 7 December 2015, Khodorkovsky received an official summons from the Russian Investigative Committee.
In September 2016, Khodorkovsky launched an "Instead of Putin" website, where users could vote for alternative candidates to Putin. In November 2017, Khodorkovsky established the Dossier Center, an organization dedicated to mapping the network of individuals supporting Putin.
On 20 May 2022, following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation designated Khodorkovsky as a 'foreign agent'. In May 2022, Khodorkovsky participated in the 8th "Russia Forum" in Vilnius, alongside former Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov, the head of the US think tank Freedom House, the director of the US-government funded broadcaster Radio Free Europe, and others. This "anti-Putin summit" aimed to devise strategies for "deputizing" Russia and "slaying the Russian bear," a metaphor for Vladimir Putin. Khodorkovsky stated in Vilnius that power in Russia should reside with the parliament, not the president, and predicted that the end of Putin's government "will not be long in coming."
In November 2022, Khodorkovsky published a book online, available in both Russian and English, titled "HOW DO YOU SLAY A DRAGON? A Manual for Start-Up Revolutionaries".
On 30 April 2023, Khodorkovsky, along with a significant group of exiles including Dmitry Gudkov, Ilya Ponomarev, Garry Kasparov, Leonid Gozman, Kirill Rogov, Ivan Preobrazhensky, Evgeny Chichvarkin, Boris Zimin, Sergey Guriev, Andrei Illarionov, Mark Feigin, Elena Lukyanova, Marat Gelman, Evgenia Chirikova, [Anastasia Shevchenko], and approximately 50 others, convened in Berlin. They signed a joint declaration affirming their commitment to fundamental principles, the foremost being the criminal nature of the Russian war against Ukraine. They declared the Putin regime "illegitimate and criminal" and stated that it "must be eliminated." The document, titled "Declaration of Russia’s Democratic Forces," was published as a petition on Change.org.
On 24 June 2023, Khodorkovsky expressed support for the Wagner Group mutiny, urging citizens to provide gasoline to the mutineers and advising their opponents not to engage in conflict with them.
On 20 January 2025, Khodorkovsky posted photographs of himself at the Capital One Arena in Washington DC during the second inauguration of Donald Trump.
Politics
Khodorkovsky is an outspoken critic of what he terms "managed democracy" in Russia. While generally cautious about directly criticizing the current leadership, he asserts that the military and security services wield excessive authority. In a 2010 interview with The Times, he stated:
"It is the Singapore model, it is a term that people understand in Russia these days. It means that theoretically you have a free press, but in practice there is self-censorship. Theoretically you have courts, in practice the courts adopt decisions dictated from above. Theoretically there are civil rights enshrined in the constitution; in practice you are not able to exercise some of these rights."
Through Yukos, Khodorkovsky promoted social programs in regions where the company operated. One notable initiative was "New Civilization" in Angarsk, which fostered student government among young adults. This program involved participants from across the country spending their holidays organizing student-governed bodies at summer camps.
Masha Gessen, writing in 2012, recalled meeting Khodorkovsky in 2002, "when he met with a group of young authors to try out what would become his stump speech as he traveled the country, urging the creation of a new kind of economy in Russia, one based on intellectual rather than mineral resources."
Relationship with Vladimir Putin
President Putin with Khodorkovsky (right), Sergei Pugachev (behind center), and Mikhail Fridman (center), May 2001.
"At the root of the conflict between Putin and Khodorkovsky," wrote author and activist Masha Gessen in April 2012, "lies a basic difference in character. Putin rarely says what he means and even less frequently trusts that others are saying what they mean. Khodorkovsky, in contrast, seems to have always taken himself and others at face value—he has constructed his identity in accordance with his convictions and his life in accordance with his identity. That is what landed him in prison and what has kept him there."
In February 2003, during a televised meeting at the Kremlin, Khodorkovsky confronted Putin regarding corruption, implying that high-ranking government officials were accepting millions in bribes. In early 2012, prior to the Russian presidential election, both Khodorkovsky and Putin were perceived to have underestimated each other.
Following his convictions for tax evasion, money laundering, and embezzlement, Khodorkovsky maintained his innocence, asserting that his prosecution was "retribution for financing political parties that opposed Putin."
On 20 December 2013, Putin signed a pardon that led to Khodorkovsky's release. After his freedom, Khodorkovsky addressed the media at a press conference in Berlin, Germany, referring to himself as a "political prisoner" and stating his intention not to re-engage in business or politics.
In a December 2014 interview, Khodorkovsky clarified that he was not violating his promise to Putin to remain apolitical, but was instead engaged in "civic society work." He defined politics as "essentially a battle to get yourself elected, personally. I'm not interested in this. But to the question, are you ready to go through to the very end: yes, I am. I see this as my civic duty." He characterized his role as offering himself "as a crisis manager. Because that's what I am."
Publications
- 2014: My Fellow Prisoners
- 2022: How Do You Slay A Dragon? A Manual for Start-Up Revolutionaries
- 2022: The Russian Conundrum: How the West Fell for Putin's Power Gambit—And How to Fix It (co-authored with Martin Sixsmith)
Philanthropy
Khodorkovsky has been actively involved in various philanthropic initiatives since the early 21st century:
- Open Russia Foundation
- Khodorkovsky Foundation
- its subsidiary, the Oxford Russia Fund
- the London-based Future of Russia Foundation (or the Future of Russia Trust)
- and the organization European Choice ("европейский выбор")
There. It's all there, meticulously detailed, with the links preserved. Don't expect me to be impressed by the sheer volume of it, though. It's just information. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have more pressing matters to attend to.