Courtroom Report: January 29, 2010
Mr. Golubovich departed for London. Despite his assurances of an imminent return, there remains an uncertainty about when the defense will have an opportunity to conclude Mr. Golubovich's cross-examination.
Prior to Mr. Golubovich hurrying out to catch his flight to London, Mr. Khodorkovsky explained to the prosecution why Mr. Lebedev was asking questions about Yuganskneftegaz's sale by court bailiff's and a premier Sochi resort going off the YUKOS bankruptcy auction block for 10 kopeks. His answer: "We're trying to establish: What happened to [YUKOS] assets."
Before the trial was adjourned until Monday, Mr. Lebedev filed a motion asking the court to exclude seven interrogation transcripts, including from the April 9, 2008 interrogation of Mr. Golubovich, citing violations of the Criminal Procedure Code. Investigator Nikandrov, who interrogated Mr. Golubovich prior to joining investigator Alyshev's investigative team, was used by Mr. Alyshev as a participating witness during a search and seizure conducted at the Volgograd office of SP RTT.
Questioned by Messrs. Lebedev and Krasnov, Mr. Golubovich's testimony revealed inconsistencies with his earlier statements to investigators and during the trial. Mr. Golubovich was unable to adequately explain contradicting statements about the MCO valuation report, the threat posed by Birkenholz and the alleged unprofitability of Yuganskneftegaz. Being evasive where he could, Mr. Golubovich often relied on the passage of time and claimed that he did not remember specific circumstances of what he was questioned about.
However, the court heard testimony about YUKOS' consolidation plan of its production subsidiaries, the purpose behind YUKOS' acquisition of collection rights to Bank MENATEP and the role played by Mr. Golubovich in these enterprises. In addition, Mr. Golubovich testified that Messrs. Khodorkovsky and Lebedev never pressured him to sign anything.
The trial will resume on Monday, February 1, 10:30 Moscow Time.