Witness Testimony Summary: Dmitry Nesterov
Bio:
Mr. Nesterov worked at YUKOS from 1997 until 2000. He was a deputy director of the petroleum products exports department at Yukos-RM when he left in 2000.
Testimony Date:
Testimony Summary:
Mr. Nesterov testified that one of the reasons he left Yukos-RM was because he did not feel comfortable signing petroleum sales contracts on behalf of the company. While he did not feel pressured by anyone, Mr. Nesterov believed that signing these contracts was above his employment rank. Mr. Nesterov admitted that, when he began working at Yukos-RM, he knew part of his responsibilities would be working with contracts for the purchase of petroleum products. His testimony suggested that he would not have had concerns about signing petroleum sales contracts if he was promoted or was paid a higher salary.
As a number of witnesses who testified before him, Mr. Nesterov did not have direct contacts with Messrs. Khodorkovsky and Lebedev. Mr. Nesterov referenced photographs in newspapers when asked where he had previously seen Mr. Lebedev.
Discussing the details of his work at YUKOS, Mr. Nesterov testified that during the time he worked at YUKOS he had never heard of the company being charged with any export violations. Further, YUKOS always had petroleum products to satisfy all contracts it entered into. Mr. Nesterov was certain that was the case; otherwise the company would have been subject to various penalties.