| US investors are closely monitoring the Yukos oil case
and are growing
increasingly worried about Russia's commitment to private property rights,
the US ambassador to Moscow said in an interview published Thursday.
As the trial of Russia's richest man Mikhail Khodorkovsky -- founder
of
Russia's largest oil exporter Yukos and foe of President Vladimir Putin
--
was due to begin next week, the US ambassador said Western investors were
watching nervously despite Moscow assurances that the case was not linked
to politics.
"The case is prompting some worry and bringing up some questions
from
American companies," US Ambassador Alexander Vershbow told the Kommersant
business daily.
"Investment may depend on how this case develops and how it is
resolved,"
he said in comments translated into Russian.
Vershbow also brought up a new bone of contention in Russia-US relations
--
the now-stalled Sakhalin-3 project, an issue that also came up during
a
week-long visit here by US Deputy Energy Secretary Kyle McSlarrow.
Russia in January annulled the results of a 1993 tender to develop the
Far
East project, which was won by a consortium led by the US giants ExxonMobil
and ChevronTexaco.
The consortium had won the tender in 1993 and had already invested 600
million dollars, together with Russian state-owned oil company Rosneft.
But the Russian government in January unexpectedly ruled that the 1993
agreement did not meet existing production sharing agreement rules.
Washington argues that the January decision was driven by politics and
Russian fears that it would not get enough of the potential proceeds.
"If the Yukos case raises questions about the equalities within
the Russian
legal system, the Sakhalin cases raises questions about the commitment
to
property rights," the US ambassador told Kommersant.
The two cases highlight US worries over the course of economic development
in Russia 12 years after the collapse of Soviet communism.
In the Yukos case, its backers argue that authorities are leading a
political campaign against a company that was growing too independent
and
powerful, and that similar charges could be -- but have not been -- raised
against a dozen other tycoons who made their fortunes in the first
tumultuous post-Soviet years.
Vershbow also said that a recent series of elections in Russia and a
government reshuffle that followed earlier this year have complicated
direct dialogue on key issues between Moscow and Washington.
"I think that our relations in general remain positive, but there
has been
a certain loss of impulse, and I think that in part this is linked to
the
Russian elections," Vershbow said.
"Over the past months, it has been difficult to receive a coordinated
response about a series of issues. But we do not think that this was done
on purpose," he said.
See also:
Production Sharing
Agreements
| 