Khodorkovsky Pardon Signals Putin Rift With Russia Oil Czar
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Mikhail Khodorkovsky, newly released from Russian prison, is casually dressed and looking relaxed as he fields questions in a $1,400 Berlin hotel suite. He has some startling things to say.
One: for a man once considered to be worth $15 billion, he is now relying upon his lawyer to pay his immediate bills. Two: he’s not going into exile (probably in Switzerland) quietly. He says Vladimir Putin pardoned him over the objections of Igor Sechin -- the man Putin entrusted with constructing the dominant state oil company.