A key shareholder in Russia's embattled oil major YUKOS said today he and his partners were ready to surrender control of the company if its former chief executive is freed from jail.
Mr Leonid Nevzlin, who lives in Israel and is a close associate of the imprisoned Mr Mikhail Khodorkovsky, told Reuters he believed the oil tycoon was being held hostage by the authorities and that the Kremlin was out to obtain control of the oil giant.
"We are offering them [the authorities] a choice - free the hostages and we will be ready to talk about ceding the controlling stake. . . . We can remain portfolio investors," Mr Nevzlin said.
