AP, JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel has granted citizenship to a Russian tycoon who could be targeted in Russia's tax evasion and fraud investigation of oil giant Yukos, the Interior Ministry said Wednesday. Israeli authorities said becoming an Israeli would not automatically shield Leonid Nevzlin from possible extradition to Moscow. Nevzlin is the top aide of Mikhail Khodorkovsky, who resigned earlier this week as head of Yukos, the world's fifth-largest oil company.
Khodorkovsky, Russia's richest man, has been in a Russian prison since Oct. 25 on charges of tax evasion and fraud. Critics say Khodorkovsky is being targeted because of his growing financial and political clout and his funding of opposition parties. Russian media have reported that Khodorkovsky assigned to Nevzlin “beneficiary rights'' to 50 percent of shares in Yukos holding company, Group Menatep. That would make Nevzlin a key figure in protecting the company's multibillion-dollar assets from the authorities who might try to seize them.
Nevzlin, who is Jewish and as such entitled to citizenship in the Jewish state, was questioned by Russian police in July, but no criminal charges have been brought against him. He arrived in Israel on a tourist visa two months ago and was granted citizenship on Sunday, the Interior Ministry said.
Israeli opposition legislator Colette Avital said it appeared the process was unusually quick. “Suddenly, overnight he became a dedicated Zionist and he got citizenship in a speedy manner and we have to ask why?'' Avital told The Associated Press. The ministry said Nevzlin went through the proper procedures and was not given preferential treatment. Nevzlin is No. 386 on Forbes magazine's list of the world's richest people, with an estimated wealth at $1.1 billion. Forbes ranks him as the 11th richest Russian.
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, meanwhile, brought up his concern about recent arrests of Jewish businessmen in Russia during a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Monday. “He said that as a Jew and as prime minister he is worried that there is persecution'' of Jews, said Sharon adviser Raanan Gissin. Sharon fears the arrests could lead to greater anti-Semitism, Gissin said. Putin assured Sharon that the cases were purely criminal, according to Gissin. Neither leader mentioned Khodorkovsky or Nevzlin by name. Khodorkovsky has said his father is Jewish.
Nevzlin was formerly head of the Russian Jewish Congress — the group once headed by Vladimir Gusinsky, another oligarch who found refuge in Israel. According to the Israeli newspaper Maariv, another Yukos shareholder, Vladmir Dubov, was in Israel until recently and stayed in the same Tel Aviv hotel as Nevzlin.
