Mikhail Khodorkovsky was arrested while on his way to sign documents to sell Yukos oil fields to Exxon Mobil.
Posted by The Pete Quiñones Show, Checked
- Sources
- 1 contradict7 support
- Said
- 1 time·
- Confidence
- 35%
The Pete Quiñones ShowOct 1, 2026
The sources confirm Khodorkovsky was arrested on October 25, 2003, at Novosibirsk airport, while Yukos was negotiating a stake sale to Chevron or ExxonMobil. No source says he was on his way to sign documents, and the sources describe a stake sale rather than the sale of oil fields, so the specific anecdote cannot be verified.
What was said
… Now, of course, they're, or as of a few years ago, um, it's more than 50%, 60% above this line, and and it's increasing. Um, you know, just one example: I talked about this at the time. Um, Michael Korkowski, who was the head of the Israeli head of the UCOS oil concern, he was gonna sell those fields, which are monsters, to Exxon Mobil, uhm, and that's why he was arrested. He was arrested on his way to sign the documents. You've seen those videos of Putin marching into a board meeting. Um, that's not all public relations. One of the reasons that Western politicians hate Putin is because Putin is very independent. The state is more powerful than any concentration of capital. …
The Pete Quiñones Show · · from the transcriptPost →What we found
Contradicts. Carnegie's 2005 analysis describes the Exxon talks as 'merely a show' because Exxon only acquires controlling stakes, which weakens the claim that a sale to Exxon was genuinely imminent.[2]
Supports. Khodorkovsky was arrested on October 25, 2003, at Novosibirsk airport, after masked agents stormed his plane, per the AEI and Wikipedia accounts.[3][4][5]
Supports. Khodorkovsky was negotiating to sell a large stake in Yukos to Exxon Mobil or Chevron before his arrest, with Chevron reportedly agreeing to terms a month earlier.[1][6][7][8]
Context. No source describes Khodorkovsky as being on the way to sign documents at the time of his arrest, so this specific element is not addressed.[3][4][6]
Sources
8 sources: 1 primary, 7 not rated
- 1More Than a Moscow Morality Playbrookings.edu · primary source · cited for: supports
- 2What does the Yukos Affair Mean for Russia?carnegie.ru · not rated · cited for: contradicts
- 3The YUKOS Affairaei.org · not rated · cited for: supports, context
- 4Mikhail Khodorkovsky - Wikipediaen.wikipedia.org · not rated · cited for: supports, context
- 5How The 2003 Arrest Of The Richest Man In Russia Changed Everything — And What Happens Nextbusinessinsider.com · not rated · cited for: supports
- 6Khodorkovsky's High Stakes Gamble - The Moscow Timesthemoscowtimes.com · not rated · cited for: supports, context
- 7How Rex Tillerson changed his tune on Russia and came to court its ...adn.com · not rated · cited for: supports
- 8Unyielding, an oligarch vs. Putin - The Mongolian Mining Journalmongolianminingjournal.com · not rated · cited for: supports
Where this claim was made
Said in 1 published post
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