Baltic States – CIS, Crime, Energy, Legislation, Russia

"According to evidence at the disposal of the Investigative Committee, the man who ordered that murder and a number of other exceptionally grave crimes might have been YUKOS chief Mikhail Khodorkovsky," Markin said.

Vladimir Petukhov was shot dead in the morning of 26 June, 1998 while walking to work. Shortly before that Petukhov had a conflict with the oil company YUKOS over tax evasion, which resulted in wage arrears and disruptions in the operation of utilities services.

Mikhail Khodorkovsky's lawyers have for the time being refrained from any comments regarding statements by Russia's Investigative Committee about Khodorkovsky's suspected role in the 1998 murder of the mayor of Nefteyugansk.

"I never comment on speculations and fantasies, even those coming from the Investigative Committee," Khodorkovsky's lawyer, Vadim Kluvgant, has told TASS. "Secondly, the law establishes the list of circumstances that are the reason for resuming the investigation. When the investigators take the trouble of saying what the new circumstances are, the defence will be able to comment."