November 4, 2003	Tuesday	Ramazan 8, 1424

MOSCOW, Nov 3: Russian oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky, who was arrested nine days ago on fraud charges widely seen as politically-motivated, has quit as chief executive of Yukos, the country’s largest oil company.

Khodorkovsky, 40, issued a statement carried by the Interfax news agency.

“I am leaving the company,” said Khodorkovsky.

“I am sure that the highly-professional team of experienced managers, with the support of the board of directors, will successfully manage with the object of globalizing YukosSibneft.”

Yukos spokesman Alexander Shadrin separately told AFP “he has left Yukos.”

Yukos and a smaller Russian rival Sibneft have completed a merger that creates the world’s fourth-largest oil and gas producer.

The merger is to be finalized at a shareholders’ meeting at the end of November.

“Khodorkovsky will continue his work as chairman of Open Russia,” Yukos’s philanthropic arm, Shadrin told AFP.

Yukos has been the object of a criminal probe since July and Khodorkovsky was arrested on October 25 at gunpoint, charged with seven counts including massive fraud and tax evasion and jailed as prosecutors continue their investigation.

His arrest is widely seen as an attempt by the Kremlin to hit back at Khodorkovsky after he openly funded opposition parties ahead of a December parliamentary poll during which President Vladimir Putin hopes to secure a majority for the main pro-government United Russia party.

Opinion polls show United Russia running neck-in-neck with the Communists a month ahead of the election.—AFP