Former head of Yukos oil company Mikhail Khodorkovsky arrives at court prior to his trial. A decision for the unfreezing of assets the troubled oil company is to come in a few days. Photo by AFP
The new chief of the troubled Yukos oil company said that authorities promised to decide within two days whether to unfreeze some of the company's assets to keep the oil giant afloat in the short term. I have been personally told by the justice ministry that the decision will be made either Wednesday or Thursday, Steven Theede said. Yukos and its major shareholders have been under investigation for a year in a case that many say is Kremlin payback for the political ambitions of its billionaire founder, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, who financed opposition parties and openly criticized President Vladimir Putin 's government. Khodorkovsky is standing trial with a top associate on fraud and tax evasion.