Category Nation/CIS
Source RosBusinessConsulting

MOSCOW — Russian oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky, sentenced to 9 years in jail on charges of tax evasion and fraud, decided to run for a seat in the Moscow City Duma, he said in a statement today. He will run in Moscow's Universitetsky constituency No. 201. "I am fighting not for a pass to deputies' canteen, and not for an office in Okhotny Ryad, but for the right of every Russian citizen to say publicly that the current Kremlin regime has exhausted itself, and its days are numbered," he said in his statement.

Khodorkovsky thanked "all regions, all voters and citizens of Russia who expressed readiness to nominate him for the State Duma and regional parliaments." "Support from several regions of the country is a great honor to me," he stressed.

The Universitetsky constituency No. 201 mandate became vacant after Mikhail Zadornov, who had been elected from this constituency to the Moscow parliament, went to work in Vneshtorgbank.

The verdict against Mikhail Khodorkovsky will take effect after the Moscow City Court considers an appeal from his lawyers. The hearing is scheduled for September 14.