Daily Archives: February 22, 2007

07MOSCOW777, BOSNIA: RUSSIANS NOT KEEN ON EXTENDING OFFICE OF

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Reference ID Created Released Classification Origin
07MOSCOW777 2007-02-22 16:00 2011-08-30 01:44 CONFIDENTIAL Embassy Moscow

VZCZCXRO4958
PP RUEHDBU RUEHFL RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHROV RUEHSR
DE RUEHMO #0777 0531600
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 221600Z FEB 07
FM AMEMBASSY MOSCOW
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 7663
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHOT/AMEMBASSY OTTAWA PRIORITY 2045
RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO PRIORITY 4091
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK PRIORITY 0308

C O N F I D E N T I A L MOSCOW 000777 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/22/2017 
TAGS: PREL PGOV BK RS
SUBJECT: BOSNIA: RUSSIANS NOT KEEN ON EXTENDING OFFICE OF 
HIGH COMMISSIONER 
 
REF: STATE 20031 
 
Classified By: D/Pol Colin Cleary.  Reasons: 1.4(B/D). 
 
1. (C)  Vadim Gorelov, Chief of the MFA's Bosnia and 
Herzegovina Affairs Section, told us February 21 that the GOR 
would not be able agree to extend the mandate of the Office 
of the High Commissioner (OHC) at the February 26-27 Peace 
Implementations Council's Steering Committee meeting. 
Gorelov said the GOR would be willing to consider extending 
the mandate of the Office of the High Commissioner (OHC) 
until November 21, 2007, when the Security Council considers 
renewal of UNSCR 1722, but would not be willing to extend the 
OHC until the end of 2007 or until June 2008 unless a 
"compelling argument" to do so could be made at the PIC 
meeting. 
 
2. (C)  Gorelov said the GOR viewed the process of reform in 
BiH as well underway and challenged the U.S. assessment of 
the situation.  He said Russia would be willing to listen to 
"clear and concrete" arguments for extending the OHC during 
the February 26-27 meeting, but noted that the Russian 
delegation would not be able to respond on the issue at the 
meeting; the GOR would need more time ("days or weeks") to 
consider a response. 
 
3. (C)  Gorelov said the GOR was not alarmed by the sharpened 
rhetoric coming from the three main ethnic groups in BiH; 
such exchanges would continue to be a factor in BiH politics 
and were an improvement over the armed conflict in the 
nineties.  He rejected the argument that the need for police 
reform was a reason to extend the OHC, as this was being 
conducted under the purview of the European Union, not the 
OHC.  He added that Kosovo final status should not influence 
the situation in BiH.  In his view, a fair, negotiated 
settlement on Kosovo -- one that Belgrade could accept -- 
would not upset the political equilibrium in BiH. 
BURNS

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07MOSCOW774, RUSSIA: PROSECUTORS COMPLETE KHODORKOVSKIY

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Reference ID Created Released Classification Origin
07MOSCOW774 2007-02-22 14:07 2011-08-30 01:44 CONFIDENTIAL Embassy Moscow

VZCZCXRO4724
RR RUEHDBU RUEHFL RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHROV RUEHSR
DE RUEHMO #0774/01 0531407
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
R 221407Z FEB 07
FM AMEMBASSY MOSCOW
TO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 7657
INFO RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RHMFISS/FBI WASHINGTON DC
RUEAWJA/DOJ WASHDC

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 MOSCOW 000774 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EUR/RUS 
DOJ FOR OPDAT/LEHMANN, OIA/BURKE, OCRS/OHR/SHASKY 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/22/2017 
TAGS: ECON KCRM KJUS PGOV PREL RS
SUBJECT: RUSSIA: PROSECUTORS COMPLETE KHODORKOVSKIY 
INVESTIGATION 
 
REF: MOSCOW 00697 
 
Classified By: DCM Daniel A. Russell for reasons 1.4(b) and (d). 
 
1. (C) Summary. On February 16, the Russian General 
Prosecutor's Office announced that it had completed the 
preliminary investigation in the new criminal case against 
Mikhail Khodorkovskiy and Platon Lebedev (Reftel).  The case 
file will now be turned over to the defendants and their 
lawyers for an unspecified period of time so that they can 
review the evidence and make requests for the exclusion or 
addition of evidence.  At the end of this review process, 
prosecutors will prepare the final indictment.  At the same 
time, the General Prosecutor's Office disclosed substantially 
more details about the charges against Khodorkovskiy and 
Lebedev.  The charges are complex, but boil down to the 
allegation that Khodorkovskiy and Lebedev fraudulently 
acquired controlling interests in three oil companies, used 
this control to sell oil to other companies that they 
secretly controlled at deflated prices, and then re-sold the 
 
SIPDIS 
oil at real market prices, for a profit of several billion 
dollars. The speed with which the preliminary investigation 
was completed and the detailed and complex nature of the 
charges suggests that the investigation has been going on for 
a long time.  End Summary. 
 
2. (C) On February 16, the Russian General Prosecutor's 
Office announced that it had completed the preliminary 
investigation in the new criminal case against Mikhail 
Khodorkovskiy and Platon Lebedev (Reftel).  Pursuant to 
Russian law, the case file, which contains all of the 
evidence assembled by investigators, will now be turned over 
to the defendants and their lawyers so that they can read all 
the materials, make comments and request that materials be 
added or excluded.  Under Russian law, the decision as to 
whether or not to grant any defense requests regarding the 
addition or exclusion of evidence is initially within the 
discretion of the chief investigator on the case.  However, 
the defendant has the right to challenge the investigator's 
decisions before a judge after the case has been sent to 
court for adjudication on the merits. 
 
3. (C) Russian law also provides that the investigator may 
not impose a time limit on the defendant's review of the case 
file.  However, if the investigator has reason to believe 
that a defendant is deliberately delaying the process, he may 
ask a judge to impose a deadline.  Under Russian law, after 
the defendant has reviewed the case file, it must be 
returned to the investigator so that he may prepare the 
indictment.  After the indictment has been completed, the 
case is sent to court for adjudication.  Because the law does 
not specify a time frame for review of the case file by a 
defendant or preparation of the indictment by the 
investigator, it is impossible to state with certainty when 
the Khodorkovskiy/Lebedev case will be sent to court. 
 
4. (C) At the same that they announced the completion of the 
investigation, Russian prosecutors also released a detailed 
summary of the new charges.  The allegations are extremely 
complex and involve a countless number of companies and 
transactions during the period 1997-2004.  Reduced to 
essentials, prosecutors charge that Khodorkovskiy and Lebedev 
acquired controlling blocks of shares in three oil companies 
(Samaraneftegaz, Yuganskneftegaz, and Tomskneftegaz) and then 
caused these companies to sell oil at below market prices to 
other companies they controlled without disclosing to the 
other shareholders of the selling companies the fact that 
these were not arms-length transactions.  They then allegedly 
re-sold the oil at market prices, which were approximately 
3-4 times greater than the original purchase price.  Though 
not explicitly stated by the Procuracy, under this theory, 
the victims were the other shareholders of Samaraneftegaz, 
Yuganskneftegaz, and Tomskneftegaz, who were entitled to the 
benefit of an arms length sale at market prices, but instead 
received only the artificially deflated prices allegedly set 
by Khodorkovskiy and Lebedev in rigged transactions. 
According to the Procuracy's statement, Khodorkovskiy and 
Lebedev are alleged to have embezzled and laundered a total 
of over seven billion dollars during the period 1998-2004. 
 
5. (C) Because they allegedly took unfair advantage of their 
controlling stakes in the oil companies, Khodorkovskiy and 
Lebedev are charged with embezzlement.  Because they 
allegedly ran all the transactions through a series of front 
companies with the goal of concealing their participation and 
 
MOSCOW 00000774  002 OF 002 
 
 
making the transactions appear legitimate, they are also 
charged with money laundering.  The money laundering charges 
carry a maximum sentence of 15 years and the embez
zlement 
charges carry a maximum sentence of 10 years. 
 
6. (C) Comment: Without closely examining the underlying 
evidence, it is hard to know evaluate the strength of the new 
charges.  However, the speed with which the investigation was 
completed and the detailed nature of the allegations suggest 
that the charges are the product of a thorough, long term 
investigation. 
BURNS

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07MOSCOW770, MISSILE DEFENSE INTERCEPTOR LAUNCH NOTIFICATION

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Reference ID Created Released Classification Origin
07MOSCOW770 2007-02-22 13:39 2011-08-30 01:44 UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY Embassy Moscow

VZCZCXYZ0021
OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHMO #0770 0531339
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 221339Z FEB 07
FM AMEMBASSY MOSCOW
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 7652
INFO RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHDC PRIORITY

UNCLAS MOSCOW 000770 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: MARR MNUC OPRC PARM PREL RS
SUBJECT: MISSILE DEFENSE INTERCEPTOR LAUNCH NOTIFICATION 
DISCUSSIONS 
 
REF: A) 06 MOSCOW 12444 B) 06 STATE 184940 
 
(SBU) On February 21, Liza Sorokina of the MFA's Department 
for Disarmament and Security Affairs passed us a non-paper, 
"On Discussions for Transmitting Notifications of a New 
Format by Direct Transmission between Moscow and Washington," 
in response to ref B demarche.  We scanned and emailed the 
full text of the non-paper, in Russian, to Mary Nash at 
EUR/PRA. 
BURNS

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