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Georgy Satarov, head of the Indem think tank, said Putin's remarks suggested he had finally chosen which Kremlin faction to side with publicly.

"He showed that he is leaning toward a specific wing within his administration - the siloviki," he said, referring to the group of former security service officials from St. Petersburg that Putin brought into the presidential administration and who are thought to be behind the attack on Yukos.

The rising tensions between the Kremlin and the big business, however, is not the fault of overzealous siloviki alone, Satarov said.

"The [oligarchs] are paying the price now for placing the wrong bet [by backing Putin] in 2000," Satarov said.

Back then, he said, big business bought the idea that liberal economic policies can actually coexist with limited democratic institutions.

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The oil giant has been the focus of inquiries which Mr Khodorkovsky - an open critic of President Vladimir Putin - says are politically motivated.

Analysts believe his troubles may be linked to his stated intention to fund political opponents to Mr Putin in the run-up to parliamentary elections in December.

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The key moment in this story was the winter of 1996. Polls showed that Yeltsin was certain to lose a reelection bid against the idiot communist Gennady Zyuganov. So the state, in conjunction with U.S. advisors, sold off the crown jewels of the Russian economy to these crooks for pennies on the dollar. In return, these beneficiaries massively funded Yeltsin’s reelection campaign. This is how Khodorkovsky, then the chief of a bank called Menatep, came to control the precious Yukos empire that is now under siege. It was given to him. His bank was put in charge of the auction for 78 percent of the company, and he actually excluded other bidders at will. He "paid" around $300 million (whether or not he ever paid even that money is still a matter of dispute) for his controlling 78- percent stake. The company is now valued at about $15 billion.

[snip]

...Khodorkovsky broke the rules of the gangster-arrangement implicit in the new Russian state. He decided he no longer wanted to pay the piper—Putin. Instead of ponying up the agreed-upon tribute, he started making noise about wanting to be president himself in 2008, and then, even worse, he started to fund opposition parties.

[snip]

The papers have gone so far as to portray Khodorkovsky—a man whose name causes grown men to spit uncontrollably in every part of the Russian empire—as an anti-Soviet martyr along the lines of Andrei Sakharov. The Globe, normally the most sensible source of Russia coverage, even ran an AFP photo showing a woman holding a sign that reads, "Free Khodorkovsky."

The "pro-Khodorkovsky" demonstration that this woman was a part of is the kind of thing that no journalist with any shame would ever touch. In Russia, it is well-known that "spontaneous" demonstrations on behalf of elitist monsters are usually paid productions.

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Edited to add link.

[ 04 November 2003: Message edited by: Slim ]

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The arrest of two of Russia's top businessmen in recent months was more than a distant headline for Washington's well-connected private equity firm, Carlyle Group.

Carlyle, known for the glittering roster of former statesmen among its partners and advisers, has ties to both Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Platon Lebedev, the jailed Russian tycoons.

[snip]

Meanwhile, the firm has lost the services of its most prominent associate: former president George H.W. Bush, who was senior adviser for Carlyle's Asia funds, retired last month, shortly after serving as the main draw at a dinner in Moscow to woo investors.

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