sur Khodorkovsky

Je sais, ce n'est pas bien de faire ça et en plus ce n'est pas conforme à MaTrèsStricteLigneEditoriale, mais je copicolle ici un extrait du commentaire du 31/12 de la recherche de VTB (une grande banque publique russe, qu'on peut difficilement considérer comme un dangereux foyer de sédition pour le Kremlin) sur le verdict de l'affaire Khodorkovsky. C'est intéressant à plusieurs titres, notamment pour ce que cela révèle des inquiétudes des milieux d'affaires russes face à l'arbitraire de la justice. 

***************************

Court sentences Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Platon Lebedev to 13½ years for crude oil theft --- justification for court’s verdict is very disturbing --- if not overturned by the higher court creates a very dangerous precedent -- negative for investment climate

News: Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Platon Lebedev, the former CEOs of Yukos and Menatep Group respectively, were found guilty and sentenced to 13½ years in prison for crude oil theft from Yukos subsidiaries. If upheld by the higher court, the conviction would keep them incarcerated until 2017. The original sentence on tax evasion charges back in 2004 expires in October 2011.

Our View: The guilty verdict by itself was widely anticipated, however, the imposition of nearly the maximum sentence demanded by the prosecution (14 years) has resulted in the outcome, which is worse than most observers expected (in the original case Khodorkovsky/Lebedev terms were reduced).

However, the most disturbing detail is the ‘rationale’ underpinning the court’s verdict. First and foremost, the charges are based on the usage of internal transfer pricing to redistribute cash flows between the companies of Menatep Group, which is a routine practice in operations of holding companies around worldwide. This alone (and leaving aside even more ludicrous propositions contained in the verdict, e.g. that the presence of US GAAP accounts is the proof of double-bookkeeping at Yukos) creates a precedent, which can be used to attack any holding conducting operations within Russia’s jurisdictions.

In this respect, this court decision is much more detrimental to the investment climate than the original tax fraud case. We will watch the appeal process very closely in the months to come. Unless overturned by the higher court, this ruling could have unintended repercussions that are more damaging that those, which stemmed from the conviction of Khodorkovsky and Lebedev back in 2004.