Opening Up Russia's Economy
Stephen Bank, a research professor at the US Army War College, comments that the ongoing trial of Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Platon Lebedev symbolizes "all that is wrong with the Russian system." The absurdity of the charges brought against the former YUKOS executives "demonstrates the regime's continuity with its Soviet predecessor and highlights both its fundamental instability and the ruling elite's awareness of its basic illegitimacy."
While the trial continues to cast a darker shadow on the country's economy and investment climate, Bank notes that Medvedev must take action by either withdrawing the government's case against Khodorkovsky and Lebedev, granting parole upon a guilty verdict, or pardoning the defendants altogether. He notes that a failure to take action "will only confirm the widespread belief that he is merely a tool of his predecessor, a placeholder until Putin resumes the presidency."