Today in Strasbourg saw the presentation of a report called ‘Europe’s interest in Russia’s continued economic development’ to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE). According to its authors, the Yukos case is continuing to take its toll on Russia’s economic development. ‘Russia is currently having to deal with what might be called the “self-inflicted” damage to the investment-climate which is the fall-out of the Yukos case and especially of the Yuganskneftegas sale. This was seen by foreign investors as a disguised renationalization of a private oil company. Major investors in Russia, such as the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, say that the country suffers today from a rise in ambiguity, an increase in risks with regard to the protection of property-rights, and a lack of clarity as to the government’s role in the economy’, it says. In another development, German delegation-member Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger introduced an amendment to the report in which she pointed out that the Russian authorities have failed to take into account PACE’s criticism regarding the Yukos case. ‘The Assembly recalls furthermore its Resolution 1418 (2005) and Recommendation 1692 (2005) on the circumstances surrounding the arrest and prosecution of leading Yukos executives and regrets that subsequent developments have shown that the Assembly’s well-founded and constructive criticism has not been taken into account by the appropriate Russian authorities’.

Resolution 1418, adopted in January 2005, pointed to a lack of transparency in the trial of Khodorkovsky and Lebedev, while describing the Russian government’s actions as marked by a desire to ‘weaken a direct political opponent in order to harass other wealthy businessmen and regain control over strategic economic assets’. In giving reasons for the introduction of the amendment, Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger pointed out that the former executives of Yukos were currently serving lengthy sentences in the most remote parts of Russia, this making the maintenance of communication with their families and lawyers extremely difficult. At the same time Mikhail Khodorkovsky has been repeatedly punished by the prison administration for petty infractions. The German deputy also stressed that the break up of Yukos to the benefit of Gazprom and Rosneft had been achieved without transparency of any kind and was now virtually complete. One of the report’s conclusions was a statement which said that ‘political and economic uncertainty disrupts investors’ trust in Russia, especially after the destruction of Yukos. In order to earn the trust of foreign investors it is mandatory that the rule of law should be applied at every level’.