"The Yukos case was enough for Putin, and Yuganskneftegaz and other assets of the plundered company were enough for his team," he said. The authorities do not have the security resources, energy or confidence to attack another nationwide corporation, he added.
The former oligarch, who was jailed for nine years on May 31, 2005, said that the Kremlin was now talking about the exceptionally selective application of law in the Yukos saga and was offering a "non-aggression pact" to business. But the trust between the state and business has been lost, Khodorkosvky said.
He said he was convinced that no pacts would help unless a new team came to power and big business took decisive steps to come to terms with society, in particular by initiating the legalization of privatization results.
Khodorkovsky told the paper: "Unless privatization results are made legitimate, the struggle for major property will continue, with semi-privatized courts and interior ministry agencies and prosecutors taking an active part in it." Hence, nobody can be certain that he or she is safe.
"The Kremlin is not the only player," Khodorkovsky said. "Those who accept the current rules of the game will have to play by them, which can make them victims any day. 'Personal insurance' is impossible."
He said his personal hopes for the future were connected with public activities, his fund supporting Russian poetry and philosophy, and the union of assistance to Russian inmates. In this undertaking, he is "completely free of any external obligations and hence optimistic."
Khodorkovsky said he was convinced that Russia's Supreme Court would not simply cut his sentence but quash it in three or four years.
