Khodorkovsky on Russia: Expect "Revolutionary" Changes

[CoinCube]

For those who do are not familiar Khodorkovsky was the richest man in Russia in 2003. Forbes placed him 16th on its list of the world’s wealthiest people, with a fortune estimated at $16 billion. He was the chairman of Yukos Oil Company at the time one of the world's largest non-state oil companies.

At age 23 Khodorkovsky graduated with a chemical engineering in 1986. Both his parents were engineers in Moscow who spent their entire careers at a measuring-instruments factory. Only one year after his graduation at age 24 Khodorkovsky founded the Bank Menatep one of the first private banks in Russia. How Khodorkovsky obtained funding to do this at the tender age 24 is unknown. Bank Menatep was used to buy Yukos from the Russian government during the controversial "loans for shares" auctions of in the mid 1990s. Khodorkovsky purchased Yukos for $309 million in 1992. He was 29 at the time.

It is not public knowledge where the $309 million dollars to purchase Yukos came from. One major clue, however, can be found what happend shortly after Khodorkovsky arrest in 2003. Shortly after Khodorkovsky's arrest on tax evasion, fraud, and other economic crimes, but before it was clear that Russia was going to nationalize Yukos the following undereported news item broke.

Control of Mikhail Khodorkovsky’s shares in the Russian oil giant Yukos have passed to renowned banker Jacob Rothschild, under a deal they concluded prior to Mr. Khodorkovsky’s arrest. Voting rights to the shares passed to Mr. Rothschild, 67, under a “previously unknown arrangement” designed to take effect in the event that Mr. Khodorkovsky could no longer “act as a beneficiary” of the shares. Mr. Rothschild now controls the voting rights on a stake in Yukos worth almost $13.5 billion, the newspaper said in a dispatch from Moscow

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2003/nov/2/20031102-111400-3720r/#!

According to Khodorkovsky putin will succeed in freeing russia from sanctions but Khodorkovsky implied that if Putin stays in power  there is a significant chance russia will not survive in its current form with its current borders.

"If you are asking whether Russia will survive in its current borders when Putin goes, then I would say the chances of it surviving if he goes in the next five to eight years are bigger than if he goes in the next say 15 years"
...
Russia's political and economic situation was not tense enough for a revolution in the short term as living standards have not fallen steeply enough to anger the population.
...
Just by the time when the reserves will be running out, sanctions will be lifted on Russia
...
I cannot give you short-term forecasts about Russia but if we are talking about the next 10 years then we should expect revolutionary changes.

http://www.ntnews.com.au/business/putins-russia-is-stagnating-khodorkovsky/story-fnjbnvte-1227629505979

In addition to opposition from Khodorkovsky and one would presume Billionare Jacob Rothchild, Billionare George Soros is on record for his outspoken in his opposition to Putin.

Putin’s Russia has challenged both the prevailing world order, which depends on the Western powers for support, and the values and principles on which the EU was founded. Neither the European nor the American public is fully aware of the severity of the challenge.
...
the Syrian crisis deteriorated when Putin’s Russia and the Iranian government came to Bashar al-Assad’s rescue
...
I argued that sanctions against Russia are necessary but not sufficient. President Vladimir Putin has developed a very successful interpretation of the current situation with which to defend himself against the sanctions.
...
Soros calls for radically boosted western support of Ukraine with an “immediate cash injection of at least $20bn with a promise of more when needed” to help write off public debt, and help to reform the country’s energy sector to make it less dependent on Russia.

http://www.nybooks.com/articles/2015/07/09/partnership-china-avoid-world-war/
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-10-23/george-soros-slams-putin-warns-existential-threat-russia

Mr. Putin it seems has some powerful adversaries.

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[Blithe]

Yap But seeing putin is so busy with other affairs like isis and turkey. 

[Balthazar]

Shortly after Khodorkovsky's arrest on tax evasion, fraud, and other economic crimes,

You forgot murder. Almost everybody, who knew something about Khodorkovsky's business, is dead now.

Yeah, you know making business in Russia in the 90s was a little risky and, err... bloody, mildly speaking. So you are going to say that Berezovsky didn't die on his own, but had been assassinated by Khodorkovsky's accomplices?

I think so, because I don't believe in coincidences when there is a dozen of accidents and suicides.

Some others who had business with Khodorkovsky:

Steven Curtis, died in 2004
Paul Castle, died in 2010
Robert Curtis, died in 2012
David West, died in 2014
Johnny Elichaoff, died in 2014
Scot Young, died in 2014

This criminal should be in jail for a lifetime, he doesn't deserve freedom.

[1btcdream]

For a man who made his fortune while the rest of the country and his fellow Russians were in the grip of poverty and political uncertainty, unsure of their post Soviet future, he certainly sounds very caring and worried.

A man who is a well known Western agent and has done everything in his power to weaken the post soviet Russia. A man who was silent all these years, making more and more of his millions, and suddenly springs into action! Why? Who prompted him?

[galdur]

For a man who made his fortune while the rest of the country and his fellow Russians were in the grip of poverty and political uncertainty, unsure of their post Soviet future, he certainly sounds very caring and worried.

A man who is a well known Western agent and has done everything in his power to weaken the post soviet Russia. A man who was silent all these years, making more and more of his millions, and suddenly springs into action! Why? Who prompted him?

The same people that have a knack for picking Russian agents with zero political abilities to undermine or topple Putin. Like their darling Garry Kasparov, now that man may very well be the greatest chess player that ever lived, but he´s not even remotely suited for politics.

[Vika NSFW]

LOL.

Ask Your fonts to translate this Russian text in English.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_mC2zOReOAg

[Vika NSFW]

there is a significant chance russia will not survive in its current form with its current borders

Holy Cleopatra!
USA will give back to Russia Alaska due to not respect strong anti gay rules of local popolation??

[galdur]

there is a significant chance russia will not survive in its current form with its current borders

Holy Cleopatra!
USA will give back to Russia Alaska due to not respect strong anti gay rules of local popolation??

There is a significant chance that USA will give Alaska back to Russia due to the limited interest of the males in the province in having their dicks chopped off.

[vero]

Khodorovsky was an opportunistic Jewish oligarch who swooped in after the collapse of the Soviet Union and got rich stealing Russian oil interests for pennies on the dollar while the Russian people struggled to survive. I care little for what this profiteering thief has to say about anything. He got lucky merely being exiled.

[bryant.coleman]

Khodorovsky was an opportunistic Jewish oligarch who swooped in after the collapse of the Soviet Union and got rich stealing Russian oil interests for pennies on the dollar while the Russian people struggled to survive. I care little for what this profiteering thief has to say about anything. He got lucky merely being exiled.

Some 15 million extra deaths were caused as a direct result of the plunder of the former-USSR (especially in Russia, Moldova and Ukraine) during the 1990s. Khodorkovsky, along with other oligarchs such as Roman Abramov and Suleiman Kerimov played an important part in this genocide. That said, we should remember that these people were merely puppets of Bill Clinton  and his vassal Boris Yeltsin.

[zenitzz]

This guy became a very wealthy man while the Russian people struggled to survive.
We are now supposed to believe him.

[CoinCube]

This guy became a very wealthy man while the Russian people struggled to survive.
We are now supposed to believe him.

If you take Khodorkovsky words as a true window into the thoughts of those that oppose Putin then one can infer the following.
1) That Putins opponents think sanctions will fail.
2) That they do not see a way to remove him from power in the short term
3) They believe the can destabilize Russia in the medium term leading to civil strife and presumably the breaking away of portions of the country.

Alternatively, Khodorkovsky could just be saying provocative things to get attention.  

[bryant.coleman]

This guy became a very wealthy man while the Russian people struggled to survive.
We are now supposed to believe him.

And he is now the darling of the NATO. The Americans want to topple Putin (who drove the oligarchs out of Russia and ended their exploitation) and replace him with douchebags such as Khodorkovsky and Kasparov. The real intention of the Americans are very clear. They want to destroy Russia, just like they destroyed once powerful countries such as Germany and Japan.

[Nemo1024]

With regard to Khodorkovskij's "prediction" on the OP that Russia will disintegrate - this is nothing but voicing of a dream and a goal of his masters. This goal has been in effect for several centuries. Here is a short recap of the previous such attempts, often facilitated by the likes of Khodorkovskij:
- 1854 - invasion of Russia on multiple fronts, repelled everywhere, but in Crimea
- 1914 - manipulative politics, which succeeded in drawing Russia into WWI. It had nothing to gain and everything to lose from that war.
- Colour revolution of February 1917 as the consequence of the above, which destroyed Russian governance and nad paved way to
- Coup d'etat of October 1917, when Russia was partially dismembered
- 1941-1945. US-financed Nazi GErmany and its attempt at further dismemberment of re-unifying Russia
- Coup d'etat and of 1991 and the destruction of USSR, staring destruction of a unified economic and defensive space
- Coup d'etat of November 1993 - staged by US State Dept., and costing 2000 people in Moscow their lives, this coup solidified US puppet Yeltsin for further 7 years, plunging Russian into the Wild 90's - its drakes stretch since the 1500's Times of Trouble

Now let's look at Khodorkovskij. In USSR he was head of the all-Soviet Communist Youth Organisation (Komsomol). Under Yeltsin, he was entrusted with administration of the the state oil and gas industry. Through a series of manipulations, thefts, he turned into an "owner" of said industry. By the time he was arrested, he was on literary on the was to board a plane to US, where he was slated to sign a deal, transferring control of Russia's oil and gas resources to some American companies. Khodorkovskij was promised Russian presidency for delivering control Russia's resources, much like Poroshenko was given presidency in Ukraine.

A word about oligarchs. Abramovich was mentioned, and he and his ilk are no better than Khodorkovskij. With one difference. When Putin was elected President, he had to reign in the destructive activity of the oligarchs. One way was through confiscations, but that would create too much turmoil (both locally and internationally - just look how much noise Khodorkovskij manages to create) and be too disruptive to the shaky state Russia was in, so the oligarchs were offered a deal instead. They keep most of what they "acquired", and in return they invest some of that into the most desperate areas of Russian economy and they also stay out of politics. Abramovich was tasked to bring up to speed the poorest and least developed region of Russia - Chukotka, the governor of which he was appointed. In the end he kept both points of the bargain and is now seldom seen on the media horizon. Khvodorkovskij chose the path dictated by his overseas masters...

EDIT: Some relevant reading here:
http://stanislavs.org/the-wild-90s-in-russia-as-reflected-in-peoples-memory/
http://stanislavs.org/for-russia-90s-were-worse-than-wwii/

[Balthazar]

Recently, a lawsuit has been filed by the taxation watchdog against company where my friend is working. It's funny but this case was examined by the same judge, who worked on Yukos case.

[Snail2]

I guess Khodorkovsky largely lost his significance and getting out of fashion, so he need to voice his some mainstream opinion, otherwise he will be forgotten by his supporters (but perhaps not by his opponents).

[Balthazar]

I wonder why gov released him... They should've let him to serve 20-30 years behind bars.

[bryant.coleman]

A word about oligarchs. Abramovich was mentioned, and he and his ilk are no better than Khodorkovskij. With one difference. When Putin was elected President, he had to reign in the destructive activity of the oligarchs. One way was through confiscations, but that would create too much turmoil (both locally and internationally - just look how much noise Khodorkovskij manages to create) and be too disruptive to the shaky state Russia was in, so the oligarchs were offered a deal instead. They keep most of what they "acquired", and in return they invest some of that into the most desperate areas of Russian economy and they also stay out of politics. Abramovich was tasked to bring up to speed the poorest and least developed region of Russia - Chukotka, the governor of which he was appointed. In the end he kept both points of the bargain and is now seldom seen on the media horizon. Khvodorkovskij chose the path dictated by his overseas masters...

I haven't heard about Roman Abramovich for a very long time. Is he still alive? A few years ago, I read somewhere that he resigned from the post of governor of Chukotka and shifted his residence to London.

I wonder why gov released him... They should've let him to serve 20-30 years behind bars.

He (either indirectly or directly) caused the deaths of tens of thousands of people. A prison sentence would be too lax. He should be shot in the back of his head, at point blank.

[Nemo1024]

A word about oligarchs. Abramovich was mentioned, and he and his ilk are no better than Khodorkovskij. With one difference. When Putin was elected President, he had to reign in the destructive activity of the oligarchs. One way was through confiscations, but that would create too much turmoil (both locally and internationally - just look how much noise Khodorkovskij manages to create) and be too disruptive to the shaky state Russia was in, so the oligarchs were offered a deal instead. They keep most of what they "acquired", and in return they invest some of that into the most desperate areas of Russian economy and they also stay out of politics. Abramovich was tasked to bring up to speed the poorest and least developed region of Russia - Chukotka, the governor of which he was appointed. In the end he kept both points of the bargain and is now seldom seen on the media horizon. Khvodorkovskij chose the path dictated by his overseas masters...

I haven't heard about Roman Abramovich for a very long time. Is he still alive? A few years ago, I read somewhere that he resigned from the post of governor of Chukotka and shifted his residence to London.

He is well and enjoying the Russian money. He resigned from the governor post during Medvedev's presidency, after Putin repeatedly rejected his previous letters of resignation. Even while being the governor, he seldom visited that corner of Russia, spending most of the time in London an toying with his pet football club, Chelsea.

[bryant.coleman]

He is well and enjoying the Russian money. He resigned from the governor post during Medvedev's presidency, after Putin repeatedly rejected his previous letters of resignation. Even while being the governor, he seldom visited that corner of Russia, spending most of the time in London an toying with his pet football club, Chelsea.

So I am assuming that he managed to smuggle out his wealth to London as well. Putin let him off very easily. He should have confiscated 90% of his wealth, and then let him go with the remaining 10%. He is wasting all his money on football clubs and luxury yachts. That money should have been better spent in Chukotka.