#4 - RW 282
RFE/RL
Russian Election Special
10 November 2003
Yukos Case Dominates First Televised Campaign Debate
By Victor Yasmann and Jonas Bernstein
Copyright (c) 2003. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. www.rferl.org

Official campaigning for the 7 December State Duma elections began on 7 November with a televised debate on NTV, Russian media reported. Eurasia Party leader and controversial geopolitical theorist Aleksandr Dugin, who is known for his staunch anti-Americanism, accused jailed former Yukos head Mikhail Khodorkovskii of a "pro-American" tilt. "In addition to the economic dealings that are now under investigation, Khodorkovskii is known for his specific geopolitical views," including his opposition to "the integration of the post-Soviet space and a pro-American orientation," Dugin said.

He then asked Yabloko leader Grigorii Yavlinskii whether he supports those positions, and Yavlinskii responded that he has never heard such opinions from Khodorkovskii and that Yabloko does not oppose further integration. Yavlinskii said that Dugin, who is a leading member of the Motherland-Patriotic Union electoral bloc together with State Duma Deputy Dmitrii Rogozin, cannot settle the problems of privatization because he simply advocates confiscating and redistributing property.

Speaking after Yavlinskii, Union of Rightist Forces (SPS) leader Boris Nemtsov reacted harshly to statements about Yukos made by President Putin during his recent trip to Rome.

Putin has divided Russian society, Nemtsov said. He noted that former Yukos head Khodorkovskii has been jailed without a trial, although this has done nothing to increase anyone's salary or pension. At the same time, capital began flowing from the country, contracts were disrupted, investment has been scaled back, jobs have been cut, and budget revenues have declined. "As a result, the country is poorer and economic growth has stopped," Nemtsov said.

He said that "10 million people" could theoretically be jailed on the same charges that Khodorkovskii faces, and the SPS advocates raising taxes on the wealthy instead of putting people into prison. However, he said, this must be done in a way that will not harm business.

Rogozin, who chairs the Duma's Foreign Affairs Committee, said that bringing the oligarchs to court is better than letting others deal with them "with weapons equipped with silencers." Nemtsov responded by claiming that aluminum magnate Oleg Deripaska is financing Rogozin's Motherland-Patriotic Union bloc, which Rogozin denied, threatening to sue Nemtsov.

Writer Tatyana Tolstaya, who represented SPS in the debate, called on Yabloko leader Yavlinskii to agree to a merger of his party with SPS, warning that otherwise the words "destroyer of Russian democracy" would be written on his tombstone, "Kommersant-Daily" reported on 10 November. In response, Yabloko deputies Sergei Ivanvenko and Sergei Mitrokhin denounced SPS's calls for a merger as "provocations," lenta.ru reported.

Meanwhile, speaking in St. Petersburg on 5 November, Communist Party of Russia (KPRF) leader Gennadii Zyuganov said that the recent investigations into oil giant Yukos is a just a cover for a new redistribution of property in the country, Regnum and other Russian media reported. Zyuganov denied that the KPRF has any contacts -- including financial sponsorship -- with Yukos or jailed former Yukos CEO Mikhail Khodorkovskii. He said that people like Khodorkovskii and self-exiled former oligarch Boris Berezovskii cannot provide financial support to the KPRF because the party has called for the confiscation of their property and its return to the state.