Sakwa, Richard Putin and the Oligarch: The Khodorkovsky-Yukos Affair (review)

Abstract

SEER, 94, 2, APRIL 2016 386 Sakwa, Richard. Putin and the Oligarch: The Khodorkovsky-Yukos Affair. I. B. Tauris, London and New York, 2014. xx + 298 pp. Illustrations. Notes. Bibliography. Index. £20.00. The arrest and first trial of Mikhail Khodorkovsky marked a turning point in the recent history of Russia. Richard Sakwa’s carefully researched book examines what led to this event and the developments that followed it through to Khodorkovsky’s eventual release in 2013. The book is mostly about Khodorkovsky’s ‘personal and intellectual journey’ from budding entrepreneur during perestroika to Russia’s richest man at the helm of a huge oil company, to political prisoner and public intellectual. Of course, this journey can be understood only in the context of Russia’s post-Soviet transition in general and the evolution of the relationship between big business and the state, particularly after Putin’s accession to power. Sakwa first briefly describes Khodorkovsky’s activities during perestroika and the 1990s as well as broad developments in the country, and this description can occasionally be quite confusing to a reader not intimately familiar with the late Soviet and postSoviet environment. The story becomes much easier to follow starting in the second chapter that covers Putin’s initial attack on the independence of Russia’s oligarchs under the cover of reestablishing law and order and depriving big business of its influence on politics. Sakwa argues that the entire Yukos affair was not a methodically planned operation to destroy Russia’s most profitable and transparent corporation and criminally prosecute its owners and top managers, but rather a consequence of the earlier victory of the state over two other oligarchs, Berezovsky and Gusinsky. This victory changed the balance of power between the state bureaucracy, particularly the security and military services (siloviki) on one hand, and the big business and liberal politicians and bureaucracy on the other. Having gained the upper hand, the siloviki sought to redistribute property to themselves and become the new statist oligarchy. GoingafterYukoswasanaturalsteptowardthisgoal.Moreover,Khodorkovsky appeared to have political ambitions and tried to foster the development of independent civil society in Russia, refusing to play by the rules laid down by Putin. Khodorkovsky also actively established close ties with international business and politicians and sought to transform Yukos into a Western-type international corporation. Perhaps almost as importantly, there seemed to be a great deal of personal animosity between Khodorkovsky and Putin. Sakwa notes that the 2003 arrests of Khodorkovsky and several of his associates, including Platon Lebedev, followed by trials and clearly predetermined harsh sentences provoked remarkably muted reaction from within Russia, although some liberal politicians, including notably the prime minister Mikhail Kasyanov, did voice objections. Moreover, Putin’s and the REVIEWS 387 pro-presidential party’s approval ratings increased significantly as a result. This outcome was possible by the apparently incomplete nature of Russia’s transition from the Soviet system and it was also a reaction to the economic problems of the 1990s and humiliation many Russians felt due to loss of influence on the international stage. The international reaction to the trial was more pronounced but not particularly strong either. In addition to describing Khodorkovsy’s and Lebedev’s trial, Sakwa devotes a chapter to the prosecution of a number of current and former Yukos employees, many of whom were severely pressured to provide evidence against Khodorkovsky. It is remarkable that none of them was willing to do so and some paid heavily for their courage, including Vasily Aleksanyan who died because of the harsh conditions of his imprisonment and Alexei Pichuigin who is still serving his sentence. The second trial of Khodorkovsky and Lebedev, which began in March 2009 provoked strong international reaction perhaps because of double jeopardy and even more egregious violations of the letter of Russian law than in the first trial. While Sakwa describes the trials and reactions to them in some detail, about a quarter of the book is devoted to Khodorkovsky’s transformation from a business tycoon to a dissident. This is the most interesting part of the book and perhaps it should have been expanded. Soon after his first imprisonment, Khodorkovsky began writing about Russia’s challenges and directions...