Oligarch steps up Kremlin fight RUSSIAN OPPOSITION:
Mikhail Khodorkovsky, the chief executive and leading shareholder of the
embattled Russian oil group Yukos, is planning to increase support for the
country's liberal opposition parties, in a sign of spiralling political
conflict with the authorities.
Sources involved in the discussions say Mr Khodorkovsky has resolved to
intensify his work with Yabloko and the Union of Right Forces (SPS) in the
wake of a series of criminal investigations by Russian prosecutors into Yukos
in the past month.
These judicial probes have been widely seen as politically motivated.
Mr Khodorkovsky's move comes even as Yukos is believed to be in
discussions with senior Kremlin officials about a potential face-saving
compromise that could include making a substantial payment for social
programmes in Russia.
Pro-Kremlin parties fighting for support in the parliamentary elections in
December have been attempting to capitalise on the fight against corruption,
and on negative popular sentiment towards politically influential
"oligarchs", such as Mr Khodorkovsky, who came to prominence during
the 1990s.
To counter this campaign, Yukos executives may now be willing to admit to
President Vladimir Putin that they should have paid more attention to
Russia's social problems.
But they remain firmly opposed to accepting any guilt for the charges brought
against them by prosecutors since early July. Two company officials have been
jailed on suspicion of defrauding the state and murder.
Mr Khodorkovsky has publicly refused to go into the reasons behind the
investigations other than to condemn them as political, but he has maintained
a defiant attitude to the prosecutors in recent weeks.
He is believed to be concentrating his political efforts on establishing
strong regional networks for Russia's principal two rightwing parties,
which have traditionally performed poorly outside the country's main
urban centres.
Among the oligarchs remaining in Russia, Mr Khodorkovsky has proved the most
openly active and critical in the past two years, indicating his support for
opposition parties and making no secret of his funding for Yabloko and SPS.
Yukos is also believed to have provided secret support to the Communist
party, which recently condemned the attacks on the company - although it
might have been expected to gain popular support by exploiting the
anti-oligarch campaign.
In another initiative which could destabilise Russia's pro-Kremlin
forces, Boris Berezovsky, the oligarch now in self-imposed exile in London
and facing extradition to Russia on fraud charges, has also indicated his
interest in standing for election - if necessary from abroad - for the
Liberal Russia movement in December's parliamentary elections.
However, other influential Russian businessmen, who have kept a lower public
political profile, have been cautious in their support for Mr Khodorkovsky -
even though some fear that if Yukos is seriously destabilised, they could
also suffer in future.
In current opinion polls, both SPS and Yabloko are barely above the 5 per
cent threshold required to gain entry into the federal parliament, and have
refused all efforts to get them to merge into a more powerful single bloc.
Liberal Russia also has a very low rating. For regional reports,
www.ft.com/europe
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