George Soros Advocates Rule of Law in Khodorkovsky Trial
Famed investor and businessman George Soros commented on the YUKOS cases at a speech by Russian Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin at the Peterson Institute for International Economics in Washington DC.
During the question and answer session, Soros stated that releasing Mikhail Khodorkovsky would send a positive sign that the rule of law in Russia is improving which would in turn help the investment climate and bolster the Russian economy.
He said: "I hope that the trial of Khodorkovsky will be a fair one because it's very important for the rule of law to be more properly observed in Russia. We should respond to these signs from Russia in a very constructive way when it comes to restructuring debts and generally enabling Russia to cope with its own financial crisis. We are talking about re-setting the button and it is now perhaps taking an effective form."
Commenting on the recent release of YUKOS lawyer Svetlana Bakhmina, Soros added that he believed this is a positive sign.