Putin comments on Yukos

Описание: (15 Nov 2003) SHOTLIST

1. Mid shot industrialists and entrepreneurs entering conference building
2. Various, industrialists and entrepreneurs
3. Wide shot Putin entering conference
4. Close shot, sign, "Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs"
5. Wide shot, Putin speaking at conference
6. Cutaway, crowd of industrialists and entrepreneurs
7. SOUNDBITE: (Russian) Vladimir Putin, Russian President:
"It is natural in our situation when everything is still new, that any criminal case to do with business provokes caution and worry. And I completely understand you. Because there is always a concern that there will be a return to the past. There won't be. It is impossible. The state must react when the law is broken by an ordinary citizen and, as I said previously, when it is broken by an official or a business man. But it also has to protect everybody including, and not lastly, business because it is a true protection for the country's economy. When it comes to the discussions, and let's not drift from any hard questions here, about specific criminal cases, then we need to get used to certain law enforcement culture. And not go against procedure. Groundless accusations towards law enforcement agencies will provoke groundless accusations of corruption towards us, towards Russian business and the state."
8. Mid shot, conference
9. Delegates
10. Wide shot conference
11. SOUNDBITE: (Russian) Vladimir Putin, Russian President:
"It is necessary to take these decisions systematically, publicly and lawfully. Business and state will not continue a dialogue just between themselves. They must, moreover, in my view, cooperate and work together for the further development of Russia, for the growth of the economy, and to make our state more powerful and prosperous."
12. Pull out from conference
14. Exterior of building

STORYLINE:

President Vladimir Putin addressed Russian business leaders on Friday in a bid to ease tension sparked by the arrest of oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky, promising there will be no return to Soviet-style authoritarianism and pledging closer cooperation between the state and the private sector.

Putin put in an unusually lengthy appearance at the congress of the Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs in an ornate old building near the Kremlin.

He defended Khodorkovsky's arrest without mentioning the former Yukos oil company chief by name, and repeated his warning that all Russians must abide by the law.

He promised that there would be no return to the past and that the state must prosecute criminals, which would, in turn, protect business.

Khodorkovsky is one of several of so-called oligarchs who made fast fortunes in a wave of highly controversial state sell-offs in the 1990s.

His October 25 arrest on fraud and tax evasion charges prompted accusations that prosecutors, who have conducted a campaign of arrests and accusations targeting Yukos since July, were applying the law selectively to avenge the tycoon's challenges of Kremlin policy and funding of opposition parties.

Putin spoke twice and made a show of listening attentively to statements by the group's members.

It appeared to be a carefully planned effort to win support from business leaders made jittery by the arrest of Khodorkovsky, who was denied bail on Monday.

To a great degree, it worked: the president won applause from the assembly several times and received a pledge of cooperation from the organization's chairman, Arkady Volsky.


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