#16 - JRL 9061 - JRL Home
West asks fewer questions about Yukos case - foreign minister

MOSCOW. Feb 14 (Interfax) - The West is asking fewer questions about the Yukos case nowadays, Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov told the Itogi Weekly.

"Statements on Yukos have hushed down," he said. "Everyone understands that Russia has the legal right to protect its economic interests and taxes must be paid. The West punishes the evasion of taxes no less severely than Russia."

As for a possible negative impact of such statements on foreign investments in Russia, Lavrov said, "the recent granting of an investment rating to Russia answers this question."