Concerning the Kremlin by Carbonell
Citation: 12 U. Pa. J. Bus. L. 257 2009-2010 Content downloaded/printed from HeinOnline (http://heinonline.org) Fri Nov 16 01:21:16 2012 -- Your use of this HeinOnline PDF indicates your acceptance of HeinOnline's Terms and Conditions of the license agreement available at http://heinonline.org/HOL/License -- The search text of this PDF is generated from uncorrected OCR text. -- To obtain permission to use this article beyond the scope of your HeinOnline license, please use: https://www.copyright.com/ccc/basicSearch.do? &operation=go&searchType=0 &lastSearch=simple&all=on&titleOrStdNo=1097-4938
CORNERING THE KREMLIN: DEFENDING YUKOS AND TNK-BP FROM STRATEGIC EXPROPRIATION BY THE RUSSIAN STATE
Brenden Marino Carbonell*
I. INTRODUCTION
On October 25, 2003, heavily armed police surrounded the private jet of Mikhail Khodorkovsky, the billionaire head of Russia's then leading oil producer Yukos, and arrested him.' The following months witnessed the government-orchestrated destruction of Yukos through sweeping arrests of the oil giant's top managers and a barrage of massive tax assessments and penalties.2 The final blow came in December 2004 with the auction of Yuganskneftegaz, 3 Yukos' most prized production entity, which alone accounted for 60 percent of the oil company's output. 4 The $9.3 billion winning bid was submitted by a previously unknown entity named
* Brenden Marino Carbonell is a third-year law student at the University of Pennsylvania Law School. Brenden graduated magna cum laude from Yale with a Bachelor's Degree in Ethics, Politics, and Economics, earning Distinction in his major and induction into Phi Beta Kappa. His studies inspired him to investigate the social and legal ramifications of political and economic transitions, most notably those of the countries of the former Soviet Bloc. With a burgeoning interest in Russia, Brenden decided to master the Russian language, and went on to win Yale's First Year Russian Student Award. In addition,
CORNERING THE KREMLIN: DEFENDING YUKOS AND TNK-BP FROM STRATEGIC EXPROPRIATION BY THE RUSSIAN STATE
Brenden Marino Carbonell*
I. INTRODUCTION
On October 25, 2003, heavily armed police surrounded the private jet of Mikhail Khodorkovsky, the billionaire head of Russia's then leading oil producer Yukos, and arrested him.' The following months witnessed the government-orchestrated destruction of Yukos through sweeping arrests of the oil giant's top managers and a barrage of massive tax assessments and penalties.2 The final blow came in December 2004 with the auction of Yuganskneftegaz, 3 Yukos' most prized production entity, which alone accounted for 60 percent of the oil company's output. 4 The $9.3 billion winning bid was submitted by a previously unknown entity named
* Brenden Marino Carbonell is a third-year law student at the University of Pennsylvania Law School. Brenden graduated magna cum laude from Yale with a Bachelor's Degree in Ethics, Politics, and Economics, earning Distinction in his major and induction into Phi Beta Kappa. His studies inspired him to investigate the social and legal ramifications of political and economic transitions, most notably those of the countries of the former Soviet Bloc. With a burgeoning interest in Russia, Brenden decided to master the Russian language, and went on to win Yale's First Year Russian Student Award. In addition,