Russia not to return to old path: Putin

Home>>World

Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Saturday, November 15, 2003

Russia not to return to old path: Putin

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday that Russia will not return to its old path and called for cooperation between the government and the business circle in his country.

DISCUSSION

CHINESE

SEND TO FRIEND

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday that Russia will not return to its old path and called for cooperation between the government and the business circle in his country.

Addressing a conference of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, Putin said the business sector and the government "have for some time been cooperating" and such efforts should continue to yield "visible and tangible results", an Interfax news agency report said.

The president stressed that it is impossible for Russia to go back to the past, but admitted at the same time that under the current situation, any criminal case involving business could spark concern and uneasiness over Russia's economic development policies.

The speech was made amid the intensifying investigation by Russian prosecutors against Mikhail Khodorkovsky, former head of the oil giant Yukos.

Putin tried to appease businessmen by promising that there will be no backtrack to the authoritarianism in the Soviet era.

The authorities and the business "should not only continue dialogue but also work together for Russia's development and prosperity," Putin said in the speech.

But he also made it clear that the government should react to all violations of law by anybody regardless of his social status.

"It is the state's function to defend everybody because it implies defending the national economy," he said.

Khodorkovsky was arrested last month after a four-month-long probe into his Yukos oil company. The charges against him, including fraud and tax evasion, severely stirred up the Russian society, especially the business circle.

Critics say the whole case is a political move initiated by Kremlin to restrain the political and financial might of Khodorkovsky, who sponsored the opposition parties that may compete with Putin in the upcoming parliamentary elections.

Investors are more worried that their economic interests will be ruined if Russia revises the privatization policies.

Meanwhile, also on Friday, Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov ordered the Ministry of Natural Resources, which is conducting investigations into Yukos' oil exploration licenses, not to create a threatening situation for the company.

The "threatening situation" surround Yukos is "unacceptable", Kasyanov said during a visit to the city of Nizhnevartovsk in the center of the oil-rich western Siberian region.

Kasyanov called on the ministry to perform the checks of Yukos on a "regular and scheduled" basis, adding that he plans to give the ministry additional orders on the case.

Last month, the Natural Resources Ministry, which is responsible for awarding rights to develop oil fields, announced that investigations into Yukos licenses were planned in eight Russian regions.

It also threatened last week to revoke exploration and production licenses held by Yukos after the jailing of Khodorkovsky.

Questions?Comments? Click here

Is English invading Chinese culture? ( 20 Messages)

Chinese fleet visit heart of US forces in the Pacific ( 15 Messages)

Global survey: Chinese women sexiest ( 56 Messages)

Economist: China has no need to worry about possible trade deficits ( 3 Messages)

Japanese students, teacher make apology in Xi'an ( 17 Messages)

China expects to see trade deficit in near future: official ( 9 Messages)