Witness Testimony Summary: Bogdan Konoshenko
Bio:
Mr. Konoshenko held the post of director at OOO Ratmir from December 31, 1999 until the end of 2001.
Testimony Date:
Testimony Summary:
Mr. Konoshenko testified that he was offered the position at OOO Ratmir by Mr. Kartashov. Mr. Konoshenko explained that he was told about Ratmir's connection to YUKOS. According to Mr. Konoshenko, he knew that Ratmir was active in the purchase and sale of crude oil and petroleum products. His responsibilities consisted of insuring that all necessary paperwork to effectuate transactions was complete and signed. Mr. Kartashov would bring documents to be signed and Mr. Konoshenko would sign them. Ratmir had various counter parties in these transactions, including YUKOS-M and YU-Mordovia.
Mr. Konoshenko told the court that after moving to Kaliningrad, he asked Mr. Kartashov to find someone else to take over his responsibilities at Ratmir. He explained that he was required to make frequent trips to Moscow to sign various documents and these trips were becoming a burden. When an opportunity presented itself, Mr. Konoshenko tendered his resignation.
Mr. Konoshenko's interrogation transcripts served to provide more details into Mr. Konoshenko's work at Ratmir and, later, at YUKOS-M's affiliate in Kaliningrad. Mr. Konoshenko discussed his working relationship with Mr. Brudno, also.
On cross-examination, Mr. Konoshenko explained that Ratmir had a management agreement with Yukos-RM, signed on behalf of the latter by Mr. Bychkov. Mr. Konoshenko explained that he had close contacts with Mr. Bychkov when he began working in Kaliningrad at YUKOS-M affiliate there. Further, Mr. Konoshenko testified that he was fully aware that he was working for YUKOS. He explained that Ratmir did not own storage facilities, refineries or terminals because it had access to YUKOS' facilities. Mr. Konoshenko knew about Ratmir being within YUKOS' consolidation perimeter.
Mr. Konoshenko testified that Ratmir had agreements with Yukos-FBC and Yukos-Invest for the provision of financial and accounting services. During his time at Ratmir he saw and signed numerous financial and accounting documents that were prepared for the company, including company books, financial statements and tax statements. According to Mr. Konoshenko, Ratmir operated at a profit. Because Ratmir was registered in Mordovia, it could take advantage of preferential tax treatment. The company identified this fact in tax returns filed with the appropriate authorities. According to Mr. Konoshenko, Ratmir made regular payments into the Republic of Mordovia's budget and he wasn't aware of any tax issues during his time working at Ratmir. Mr. Konoshenko explained that YUKOS used companies like Ratmir and Fargoil as part of its tax optimization strategy.
Mr. Konoshenko explained how Ratmir functioned on the crude oil market. The company paid Transneft for crude oil delivered from Samaraneftegaz to Syzran Refinery. All deliveries were paid for, with neither Ratmir nor Transneft having any complaints. Ratmir paid all expenses for crude oil storage. Once Syzran Refinery prepared petroleum products, Ratmir would sell some to foreign purchasers through Yukos Export Trade, while the rest was sold by YUKOS-M under a commission agreement.
Mr. Konoshenko did not know what circumstances he was testifying under in court, but mentioned that he had heard Mr. Putin's comments a few days earlier. Continuing, Mr. Konoshenko testified that he never met Mr. Lebedev and never received any direct or indirect orders from Messrs. Khodorkovsky or Lebedev to steal crude oil. He never stole crude oil on his own initiative. He told the court that no one ever tried to convince or pressure him to do anything illegal.
Mr. Konoshenko told the court that he thought of Mr. Khodorkovsky as YUKOS' main shareholder. He remembered that he met Mr. Khodorkovsky in Nizhniy Novgorod, a day before Mr. Khodorkovsky's arrest. Mr. Konoshenko told the court that Mr. Khodorkovsky did not issue any orders to him.
Mr. Konoshenko was another witness who was interrogated a short time before testifying in the Khamovnicheskiy Court. Mr. Konoshenko remembered that he signed a nondisclosure agreement and told the court that he did not know what to do. He added that he did not think that he was warned about a nondisclosure every time he was questioned. Mr. Konoshenko hesitated and did not answer questions about what circumstances he was questioned under during recent interrogations.
Mr. Konoshenko was another witness to admit that he did not know what Messrs. Khodorkovsky and Lebedev were charged with.