The Month of YUKOS

April 15 is the 17th anniversary of the founding of YUKOS, and also coincides with the "Month of YUKOS" campaign. The campaign is highlighted by video interviews with people connected to the company.

Some of YUKOS' key achievements include:

  • In 9 years, Mikhail Khodorkovsky's team managed to increase the company's value by 30 times its value, to $40 billion.
  • At the end of 2004, before Khodorkovsky's arrest, YUKOS had become the number one oil company in Russia.
  • At the beginning of the last decade, YUKOS was the second largest tax payer in Russia, contributing 5% of the total federal budget.
  • YUKOS was the first Russian company to adopt international accounting standards.
  • YUKOS invested in a program for retired people to improve their wellbeing.
    Group MENATEP, YUKOS's majority shareholding company, annually gave $100-200 million to charity.

Commenting on YUKOS, Khodorkovsky said:

"To achieve in anything you need confidence and resistance to difficulties. Earlier or later you'll get a result. The company for me is not only a source of money but a vivid evidence of peoples' rights being exercised and abilities used, in Russia."