Arrest of Russian oil tycoon prompts comparisons with fall of Yukos boss
Russian billionaire who bought firm coveted by state oil giant faces embezzlement charges in case reminiscent of crackdown on oligarchs
PUBLISHED : Wednesday, 17 September, 2014, 9:30pm
UPDATED : Thursday, 18 September, 2014, 4:42am
Agence France-Presse in Moscow
Vladimir Yevtushenkov has been placed under house arrest on money-laundering charges. Photo: Reuters
The detention of billionaire Vladimir Yevtushenkov on money-laundering charges has sent shock waves through Russia's business and political circles and prompted comparisons with past crackdowns on oligarchs.
The Investigative Committee, which reports directly to President Vladimir Putin, said on Tuesday that Yevtushenkov had been placed under house arrest and was being investigated for misappropriation or embezzlement linked to an oil deal.
The move is reminiscent of the prosecution of Mikhail Khodorkovsky, then head of oil company Yukos, who spent a decade in jail on what he says were politically motivated charges.
The probe into 65-year-old Yevtushenkov, who is Russia's 15th richest man with a fortune of US$9 billion according to Forbes, centres on how his company, AFK Sistema, acquired oil company Bashneft.
Business daily Vedomosti reported this year that state oil giant Rosneft was keen to get its hands on Bashneft.
The arrest sent shares in his holding company into a tailspin. Shares in Sistema, a company which Yevtushenkov controls, plunged by 28 per cent in the first half hour of trading on Moscow's MICEX stock exchange.
Sistema controls Russia's largest mobile phone operator MTS, oil company Bashneft and other lucrative assets. MTS was down by 8 per cent and Bashneft lower by 12 per cent.
Yevtushenkov (right) presented a specially-programmed cell phone to Putin on December 28, 2010. Photo: AP
Khodorkovsky has pointed the finger at Rosneft chief Igor Sechin, saying the arrest showed Putin was losing his grip on domestic politics.
"I see in this a total loss of control by the president, who simply does not see what is going on under his own nose," Khodorkovsky told Vedomosti.
"If he did see, I doubt that he would so misjudge the situation and give such an order," said Khodorkovsky, who served two prison terms for tax evasion and fraud and was stripped of his oil company Yukos.
"I still hope that our president will at some point tear himself away from his new conquests and will see what is happening in the country," he said, apparently referring to Russia's annexation of Crimea and the confrontation with the West over Ukraine.
He said he believed Yevtushenkov's case centred on "purely commercial interest" in the oil industry, not a political conflict.
Rosneft has denied any role in the investigation.
Khodorkovsky was suddenly released from prison last year and now lives in Switzerland in self-imposed exile.
He has accused Sechin, one of Putin's most loyal lieutenants, of orchestrating his downfall. After being pushed into bankruptcy, Yukos was carved up and sold off in opaque auctions to state companies, with Rosneft buying up the best assets.
The arrest of Yevtushenkov, who sits on the board of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, sparked fears in business and political circles.
"We have a really bad feeling about this... it makes us think of a second Yukos case," an aide to a senior Russian official said.
Yevtushenkov has been placed under arrest until November 16 in his country residence in the village of Zhukovka outside Moscow.
He is only allowed to contact lawyers, investigators and prison officers and is wearing an electronic bracelet.
AFK Sistema is a vast holding which, as well as controlling MTS, also has major interests in travel firm Intourist and a range of other assets.
The Investigative Committee said it had launched the probe because it had "sufficient grounds to believe that AFK Sistema board chairman Vladimir Yevtushenkov is involved in the legalisation [money-laundering] of property acquired by criminal means".
AFK Sistema responded that the accusation against Yevtushenkov was without foundation.
Additional reporting by Associated Press
