The Squeaky Wheel Gets the Oil Money

Share this

In 2001, Russian businessman Mikhail Khodorkovsky (now on trial for fraud and tax evasion) hired APCO Worldwide, "to restore investors' trust in the company," reported O'Dwyer's at the time. Lucy Komisar writes that, at APCO's suggestion, Khodorkovsky's Yukos Oil Corporation "created the Open Russia Foundation ... to build cooperation between Russia and the West." Yet, the foundation's activities "seemed aimed more at cultivating powerful friends." Last year, Yukos retained the Burson-Marsteller firm BKSH, "to keep Washington abreast of political, legal and business developments." In March 2005, APCO "launched a series of advertisements" on the New York Times website, "designed to look like a newsletter named 'Russia in Focus.'" One issue "included an attack on the Khodorkovsky prosecution co-authored by Stuart Eizenstat (incidentally a member of APCO's international advisory board) and Jonathan Winer - both former Clinton State Department officials."