Profile: Mikhail Khodorkovsky

Khodorkovsky has extended his support to all political parties.

Russia's richest man, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, was arrested in October 2003 when masked and armed members of the security police force FSB stormed his private jet at an airport in Siberia.

The former head of oil giant Yukos has been detained ever since, awaiting conclusion of the trial on fraud, embezzlement and tax evasion charges that began in June.

Mr Khodorkovsky, who has clocked up wealth estimated at more than $15bn according to Forbes magazine, made his money from the controversial post-Soviet privatisation of state assets.

But before his arrest, Mr Khodorkovsky, 41, was not just rich. He was also very influential.

He is - or at least was - seen as the leading oligarch in the country, operating in a society where wealth brings power.

But his arrest proved that even he was not untouchable.

Punishment

His arrest came hot on the heels of his activities in the political arena, including the acquisition of the rights to publish the prestigious Moskovskiye Novosti newspaper, and his hiring of a leading investigative journalist highly critical of President Vladimir Putin.

Mr Khodorkovsky had also extended his political involvement by giving money to nearly all political parties - including the communists.

It seems his political activism attracted the Kremlin's ire, with Mr Putin apparently feeling threatened. Or at least that is what Mr Khodorkovsky's supporters claim.

They insist his arrest is the Kremlin's way of punishing Mr Khodorkovsky for his political activities and for his failure to toe the Kremlin line - a claim Mr Putin has angrily rejected.

Warning

Mr Khodorkovsky stands trial in Moscow shoulder to shoulder with fellow Yukos shareholder and business partner Platon Lebedev who was arrested in July 2003 and accused of theft of state property during the 1994 privatisation of a fertiliser plant.

At the time, that arrest was seen as a clear warning to Mr Khodorkovsky not to meddle in the upcoming elections.

The tycoon has consistently said he is not tied to any particular party. "Large companies cannot finance political parties as their shareholders and employees have different political views," he said while still in charge of Yukos.

However he has made no secret that he supports the liberal opposition to President Putin.

"Ideologically I am close to the Union of Rightist Forces (SPS) and Yabloko, and I continue to finance these parties," he said before his arrest.

Familiar pattern

Mr Khodorkovsky began his career as a loyal Soviet-era Communist Party member.

In 1987 - four years before the fall of the USSR - he founded what would become Menatep bank, in which he still has a large stake.

It is through Menatep's stake in Yukos that he and his associates control the oil company.

The Moscow native made his first millions in the early 1990s, when the bank acquired massive amounts of shares in companies that were privatised for bargain prices.

Mr Khodorkovsky bought Yukos at a state auction in 1995 at the knockdown price of $350m.

He is thought to control 44% of the company's shares, although Russian authorities have frozen the shares, preventing him or his associates from selling.

He was one of the first Russian tycoons openly to declare his wealth.

But with Yukos tottering under the threat of bankruptcy, that personal wealth could become significantly depleted.

The company faces a 99bn roubles (£1.9bn; $3.4bn) tax claim relating to unpaid taxes during 2000.

Yukos says it is unable to pay and may be forced into bankruptcy because a Russian court has frozen its assets.