"It's much easier for the Russian Federation General Prosecutor's Office to attack Jews, because people care less about Jews. That's an extra psychological motive for justifying its actions. I naturally cannot comment about President Vladimir Putin in this regard. I sometimes think that he has no principles at all, Jewish tycoon Leonid Nevzlin told "Globes".
Nevzlin is a shareholder in Yukos (RTS:YUKO), and the head of a consortium that acquired 26% of Modgal Ltd., the controlling shareholder in Israel Petrochemical Enterprises (TASE: PTCH). Nevzlin has sharply criticized Putin and his government, claiming, "The Kremlin has stolen $40 billion from us."
Nevzlin says the Kremlin's assault on Yukos and its owners was due to a combination of several factors, which he claims originated with the KGB, in which Putin served as a senior officer. "On one hand, there's a kind of combination of inferiority complex, jealousy, intolerance, insecurity, and contempt for people. On the other hand is a feeling of total justification, like someone who is a member of a military cult."
Commenting on Putin, Nevzlin says, "I think that from the outset, we were dealing with a mediocre KGB officer. For people like Putin, lying to a person who is not part of his clique is a good deed. Putin and his friends will, with great pleasure, reach an agreement with someone, only to break it later, and congratulate themselves for doing it."
Nevzlin claims that Mikhail Khodorkovsky and his friends are "the ideological enemies of Putin, because they carry the flag of freedom and liberalism." He adds that the group ran Yukos openly and transparently, which prevented the further payment of bribes to government officials.
Commenting on the investment in Petrochemical Enterprises, Nevzlin said, "Israel is my home, and my partners and I are happy to invest in Israel. It is natural that our first investment was in an industry we're experts in, and I hope that our professional experience can contribute to the company. If there are other good investments in Israel, we'll be happy to continue to invest."
Commenting on the mention of Vladimir Gusinsky and his own name in the investigation into money laundering at Bank Hapoalim (LSE: BKHD; TASE: POLI), Nevzlin said, "At first, I was insulted by the suspicions, but then I realized that I was born in the wrong country."
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes.co.il - on March 24, 2005