2.2. EVIDENCE

“During the preliminary investigation, Nevzlin L.B. with regards to the fact the murder of Petukhov V.A., was not interrogated, and he didn’t express his attitude to this crime in any other way.

Pichugin A.V. accused of the organizing this crime by the Verdict of the Moscow City Court of 06.08.2007, during the current court hearings had refused to give evidence referring to the right as outlined in Article 51 of the constitution of the Russian Federation, and while being interrogated during the preliminary investigation of this case he didn’t plead guilty of committing this crime and said that he had not committed any crimes at all.

However, the guilt of Nevzlin of this crime is corroborated by the following evidence:

- Statements of Shapiro V.V. of March 25 and 31, 2005; Reshetnikov Y.V pf April 27, May 6 and May 19, 2005; Tsigelnik (Shevtsov) G.A. of March 29 and May 19, 2005, according to which they present fact known to them of involvement of persons from among the management of the oil company Yukos in committing extremely serious crimes, and in connection with that, really fearing for their life and health, as well as life and health of their close relatives, they ask to take measures guarantying them security.
(Volume No 65, pages of the file 23, 26, 46; volume No 66, pages of the file 133, 166; volume No 67, pages of the file 83,93)

- Evidence of the witness Shapiro V.V., both during the preliminary investigation and in court, according to which he repents sincerely of his criminal activity and gives veracious evidence that he, actually, was acquainted with Goritovsky V. and Gorin S.V. and that, in July 1998, Goring handed over to him for Goritovsky a monetary sum of money in US dollars received from representatives of the oil company Yukos. Having received the money, Goritovsky handed over it to Tsigelnik (Shevtsov) who was also present, and explained that this was a remuneration for the murder of the mayor of the town Nefteyugansk.

Tsigelnik (Shevtsov) told that he, with his partner Reshetnikov, using automatic firearms, committed the murder of the mayor of Nefteyugansk Petukhov. Apart from that, Tsigelnik said that this crime was ordered by the management of the oil company Yukos, in particular, by Nevzlin and Pichugin. He figured out that money, repeatedly handed over from Gorin to Goritovsky, Tsigelnik (Shevtsov), was intended for preparation of crimes, so, according to Gorin, as a remuneration for committing crimes, orders for crimes came from Nevzlin and Pichugin.
(Volume No 35, pages of the file 137-139; volume 65, pages of the file 29-41, 140-151; volume No 69, pages of the file 201-206; volume No 70, pages of the file 131-134)

- Protocol of the face-to-face encounter of Tsigelnik (Shevtsov) G.A. and Shapiro V.V. of 26.04.2005, according to which Shapiro told that he knew that Tsigelnik (Shevtsov), in 1998, together with somebody, in the interests of Yukos, with the use of firearms, committed the murder of the mayor of the town Nefteyugansk, and that about these circumstances he had been informed by Tsigelnik (Shevtsov) himself.
(Volume No 66, pages of the file 109-131)

- Testimony in court of the witness Tsigelnik G.A., according to whom, he, until 1996, had borne the name of Shevtsov, and then exchanged it for the family name of his wife. At the beginning of May, Goritovsky called him, asked to come to his home, where was already Shapiro, who proposed to ‘whack out’ a business man in the town Nefteyugansk and to receive for that 10 000 US dollars. He agreed to go to Nefteyugansk, where he learned that the mayor of the town Petukhov had to be killed, and that is why he refused. Then Gorin called him once more and said that the question was only to inflict a wound to Petukhov, and then he agreed and proposed this deal to Reshetnikov.

Goritovsky gave him a short rifle and two grenades, and Reshetnikov took with him a self-made machinegun. He with Reshetnikov came to the town Nefteyugansk, and, on Jube 26, 1998, started to stalk Prtukhov, and Reshetnikov opened fire at Petukhov and his bodyguard, so, after that he and Reshetnikov disappeared , and later they learned that Petukhov had died, and his bodyguard had been wounded, although they didn’t intend to kill Petukhov, He doesn’t know from whom Gorin, Shapiro and Goritovsky received the order to murder Petukhov.

- Statement of Tsigelnik (Shevtsov) G.A. of May 5 and May 11, 2005, with a supplement, according to which he frankly avows his participation in the crimes against Petukhov V.A., Rybin Y.L., Kolesova V.L. committed by order of and in interests of the oil company Yukos and reports about financing of these crimes by Nevzlin.
(Volume N 66, pages of the file 183-190)

- Evidence of the witness Tsigelnik (Shevtsov) G.A. during the preliminary investigation, according to which, in June 1998, in the town Nefteyegansk, he, together with Reshetnikov, for monetary remuneration to the amount of 10 000 US dollars, with the use of fire-arms, committed a crim against the mayor of the town Petukhov V.A. and his bodyguard, and as the result, Petukhov was killed, and the bodyguard was wounded.

This crime was committed in the interests of management of the oil company Yukos, from among of them he knows Pichugin and Nevzlin, who directly dealt with organizing and financing of this crime. Intermediaries were Shapiro, Gorin and Goritovsky. Shapiro, for this crime, received monetary remuneration to the amount of 150 000 US dollars. For committing this crime, Goritovsky handed over to them arms, namely grenades, a short rifle with ammunition rounds, and, apart from that, Reshetnikov took a made by himself, by rule of thumb, a machine-gun ‘Borz’. After they came to Nefteyugansk, he and Reshetnikov, for several days, stalked Petukhov, finding out his itineraries, quantity of bodyguards, peculiarities of the scene. They worked out several ways of committing this crime – they were going to shoot from a roof of one of the houses, throw a grenade into the window of his office. During their staying in the town Nefteyugansk, they lived in a rented apartment.

On 26.06.98, Reshetnikov preliminary hid himself in the bushes along the itinerary of Petukhov and his bodyguard, and when they passed by, he made shots at them from the machine-gun ‘Borz’. After that, according to the preconcerted plan, Reshetnikov left the scene of the crime, took off his clothes, put it in a packet and went to the meeting place – a house in construction on the riverside. He himself returned to five-stories houses, and in a basement of a house under construction hit the shot-gun and a grenade. The machine-gun and the grenade that Reshetnikov had by him, they threw into the river and returned to the place where they lived. Later, Shapiro handed him over 10 000 US dollars, 5 000 of which he gave to Reshetnikov.

The motive of this crime was that Petukhov refused to strike a deal with the management of the oil company Yukos, he was against conclusion of agreements with it, demanded that they should pay taxes, and by doing this hampered them very much. Gorin told that the management of the oil company Yukos was interested in a crime against Petukhov. He personally was afraid of employees of Yukos, as he was receiving from them real threats. He repents of the crimes he committed. Having studied the conclusions of experts No 86 of 11.09.2002 and No 59 of 14.08.2002, he said that the examined short-gun and 12 ammunition rounds were by him at the moment of the murder of the mayor Petukhov, committed on 26.06.98. at the request of Nevzlin and Pichugin. The short-rifle, ammunition rounds and a grenade were given to him, around 15.06.98, by Goritovsky. Later, in order to move more easily in the town, he made a sawn-off short-gun of it.
(Volume No 66, pages of the file 193-216; volume No 69, pages of the file 14-18, 193-200; volume No70, pages of the file 156-163)

- Protocol of examination on the spot with participation of Tsigelnik (Shevtsov) G.A., made with the use of video-recording, according to which Tsigelnik (Shevtsov) orients himself rightly of the scene of the crime committed on 26.06.98 against Petukhov and Kokoshkin, in particular, indicated the place of committing the crime, preparing for the crime, place of the domicile of Petukhov, hiding of the means of crime, and also, in the presence of attesting witnesses, in accordance with his previous evidence, however, he also confirmed that the crime had been committed in the interests of the management of the oil company Yukos.
(Volume No 69, pages of the file 14-18)

The court ruled as baseless the statement of Tsigelnik G.A. and Pichugin, as ordering customers of the murder of Petukhov, attempted murder of Rybin, and during the preliminary investigation, starting from May 4, 2005, he mentioned, in request of investigators of the Office of the Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation, Burtovoy and Bannikov in exchange for lowering of punitive measure with regard to him, and that, before the interrogation during this court hearing, an investigator had visited him in the Preliminary detention center and had asked to confirm the name Nevzlin as ordering customer of the crimes, as the current statement of Tsigelnik is not corroborated with anything, it’s unsubstantiated, and, on the contrary, is refuted by the answer of the Isolation ward IZ-77/1 of 22.04.2008, that, during the staying of Tsigelnik G.A. in the ward, nobody had visited him in it before the interrogation.

The Court acknowledges the repeated evidence of Tsigelnik G.A. during the preliminary investigation that he knew that the order for the murder of Petukhov had come from the management of the oil company Yukos, in particular, from Nevzlin and Pichugin via Shapiro, Goritovsky and Gorin, and this is veracious for him, as it is being confirmed by other proofs of the case, in particular:

- Voluntary surrender of Reshetnikov Y.V. of April 28 and May 6, 2005, according to which Reshetnikov voluntary told about the crimes, committed in the interests of the oil company, OJSC Yukos, in particular Nevzlin and Pichugin, pertaining to the murder of the mayor of Nefteyugansk Petukhov that had taken place in June, 1998, and he also describes of circumstance of committing this crime.
(Volume No 67, pages of the file 84-85, 87-90)

- Testimony of the witness Reshetnikov Y.V. , both during the preliminary investigation and in court, according to which, in June 1998, in the town Nefteyugansk, he, together with Tsigelnik (Shevtsov), using fire-arms, committed the crime against the mayor of the town Petukhov V.A. and his bodyguard, as the result of which Petukhov was killed. The carrying out of this crime was preceded a certain preparation. During several weeks, a a purveyance was being made of Petukhov’s movements, and adjustment fires were made for guns. The ordering customers of the crime were representatives of the oil company Yukos – Pichugin and Nevzlin, and intermediaries between them and ordering customers were Shapiro, Gorin and Goritovsky.

In order to commit a crime, they took with them a rifle, two grenades and made by themselves, by rule of thumb, a machine-gun ‘Borz’. On the day of committing the crime, Tsigelnik (Shevtsov). Armed with a sawn-off gun and a grenade, providing cover for him, walked behind Petukhov and his bodyguard, and he himself took am earlier determined position, in particular, in a wood line, located along a foot path. When Petukhov and his bodyguard reached the place where he was hiding, he fired precise shots at them, and, as the result, they fell to the ground.

Then, according to earlier coordinated plan, he disappeared from the scene of the crime, took his clothes off, and the machine-gun and the grenade he threw in the river, and after that, together with Tsigelnik (Shevtsov), he returned to the place of their dwelling. Shapiro told him that the ordering customer of the crime Pichugin and Nevzlin, were joyous when they learned about the committing of the crime against Petukhov. For committing this crime, they receive monetary remuneration to the amount of 7 500 US dollars each.
(Volume No 32, pages of the file 140-142; volume No 68, pages of the file 8-24; volume No 69, pages of the file 8-13; volume No 70, pages of the file 79-88)

- Protocol of examination of testimonies on the scene, using videorecording, with participation of Reshetnikov Y.V., according to which Reshetnikov orients himself rightly on the scene of the crime committed on 26.06.98 against Petukhov and Kokoshkin, and he indicated the following places:

- Scene of committing the crime, preparations for the crime, dwelling and working place of Petukhov, and also, in presence of witnesses, recreated the circumstances of this crime in accordance with his previous evidence, and explained that the crime had been committed on order of Nevzlin and Pichugin in the interest of the oil company Yukos.
(Volume No 69, pages of the file 8-13)

- Reviewed in court video recordings of evidence examinations of Tsigelnik G.A. and Reshetnikov Y.V. with visiting the scene of the crime, from which it is clear that the mentioned persons voluntarily tell about the preparations and circumstances of the murder of Petukhov, as well as showing the places of work and residence of Petukhov, the scene of committing the crime that completely correspond with the protocol of the examination of the scene of the event.

- Announced and examined, with the consent of the parties, evidence during the preliminary investigation of the affected Kokoshkin V.Y., according to which Petukhov is his relative.

The employee of the security service Mikhail Smirnov noticed the covert surveillance on Petukhov, which was being made from an object under construction, and a report about that was sent to law enforcement agencies. Petukhov himself, fearing for his life, had repeatedly said that they had to be vigilant and cautious. During the last days of the week, Petukhov was tense, thoughtful, concentrated, and, moreover, he was saying that he was going to take certain steps. Petukhov constantly mentioned the problem, connected with tax payment of the OJSC Yukos. On 25,06,98, Petukhov, who was in the town Khanty-Mansiysk, resolved positively for himself issues connected with his claims with regard to the mentioned company and the company ‘Rosprom’.

For the evening of 26.06.98, an unofficial meeting was planned between Petukhov with the general director of the OJSC ‘Yuganskneftegas’ for discussing working problems and payment of taxes. In the morning of 26,06,98, Petukhov was taciturn, tense and thoughtful as never before. At the moment, when they passed along the bushes, shots were made at them. Petukhov held his head with his arms and fell to the ground, after that he was also wounded, lost conscience and fell. He thinks that the oil company Yukos is implicated in the murder of Petukhov, as there was a conflict between them.
(Volume No 31, pages of the file 252-255; volume No 34, pages of the file 140-143)

- Testimony of the affected Islamova F.S., both during the preliminary investigation and in court, according to which she was married to Petukhov V.A. Petukhov had difficult relation with representatives of the OJSC ‘Yugenskneftegaz’ and OJSC Oil Company Yukos, as they, during the time when he was head of the company ‘Debet’, didn’t settle the existing debt and organized inspections by various entities, with the purpose to spot the activities of the company ‘Debet’. In the words of Sevrin, former mayor of the town Nefteyugansk, it became known that, in 1996, Muravlenko, a representative of the oil company Yukos, addressed him to exert influence on Petukhov so that he dropped his demands pertaining to paying the debt and leave the town.

After Petukhov assume office of head of the town Nefteyugansk, he found out financial machinations in relations between the administration of the town and the oil company Yukos, as well as absence of financial benefits from sold oil, so, in this connection, he addressed the prosecutor with a request to guarantee the return of monetary means to the town’s budget.

In the following time, leaders of the company ‘Rosprom Yukos’ tried to cozy him up and to find a possibility to grease his fist, and in December 1996, Kopanev, a representative of ‘Rosprom’ tried to hand over to Petukhov a bribe and asked not to conflict with his company. However, Petukhov refused. Kopanev asked not to demand from Yukos to pay taxes in full and take from the company a remuneration. Then, there were other attempts of palm greasing, including a proposal to support employees of the town’s administration by the company ‘Rosprom’, but they all were in vain. Kopanev and Dubov tried to put Petukhov under control.

In his statements, Petukhov accused ‘Rosprom’, Oil Company Yukos and OJSC ‘Yuganskneftegaz of tax evasion. Petukhov continued to put forward his demands and launched a hunger strike, and after that Khodorkovsky started taking measures in order to get Petukhov demoted from his position. After that, they started to propose to Petukhov rather insistently to come to Moscow for taking a credit, but Petukhov found it suspicious and, fearing for his security, he didn’t go.

In May 1998, Petukhov told her that the manager of the oil company Yukos Belov who asked him to stay firm, he said he didn’t understand the leaders and the security service of the oil company Yukos who had said that Petukhov be ‘whacked’. Also, the member of the Russian Parliament (Duma) Lotarev admonished him that ‘guys’ from the oil company Yukos don’t jest and can fire a bullet at his head. In the spring of 1998, an open confrontation began between Petukhov and the oil company Yukos. Threatening letters started to come at the address of Petukhov, in his office. She thinks that Khodorkovsky and other leaders of the oil company Yukos meticulously planned measures pertaining to the murder of her husband and financed it.
(Volume No 30, pages of the file 14-17; 168-172; volume No 32, pages of the file 159-162; volume No 33, pages of the file 159-164; volume No 35, pages of the file 58-67)

- Announced and studies in court evidence during the preliminary investigation testimony of the witness Andriyenko A.E., from which it is clear that, on 26.06.98, at 07.50 p.m. he came out of his house together with his wife. On his way, he saw several men. When they came to a crossroad, leading to the Processing Center (RKTs), they heard sounds similar to the sound of jack-hammer. The sounds were long, they sounded in short series. Behind them, a cry resounded, and having turned, he saw, in a distance of around 15-20 meters, a man who lay on the pathway, and from his head flowed blood. There was smoke over the bushes, but there was nobody to be seen in them. After the shots, when people started to gather around, a young man with a packet in his hand sprang out of the bushes and ran in the direction of the 12th micro district.

Then, from the bushes, at the distance around 30-40 meters, came out a man, who, with calm steps, went to the houses and there came to a man who was waiting for him, and after that the first man ran in the direction of the 16th micro district, and the second went to the boarding school. Having called the police from the nearest pay telephone, he returned to the scene of the event where he saw another wounded man in blood. He recognized that one of the affected was Petukhov who had a round wound in the left temporal region of his head.
(Volume No 26, pages of the file 207-208); volume No 30, pages of the file 24-26; volume No 34, pages of the file 78-82)

- Announced and examined in court, in accordance with Article 281 of the Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation, testimony of the witness Koval N.V. during the preliminary investigation, according to which, in the morning, she was walking in the direction of the 16th micro district of the town Nefteyugansk. Before her, at the distance of around 10-15 meters, walked the head of the town Petukhov accompanied by his bodyguard. At the moment when she was at the end of the fence of the parking ‘Remontnik’, shots were heard made from the bushes from automatic weapon. Approximately, in a minute, from the bushes behind, sprang out a young man who then ran about 20-25 meters, then looked back and disappeared behind the parking lot. The man ran a bit crooked, and she had an impression that he was carrying something on his chest.
(Volume No 29, pages of the file 407; volume No 30, pages of the file 82-83; volume No 32, pages of the file 120-121; volume No 33, pages of the file 34-36)

- Protocol of an investigative experiment with participation of the witness Koval N.V. in the course of which it was established that Koval, at the moment of the crime against the mayor of Nefteyugansk Petukhov V.A. and his bodyguard Kokoshkin V.Y., was moving down the asphalt pathway from the 12th micro district in the direction of the center of the town, along the fence of the parking lot ‘Remontnik’ that was at a distance of 8 meter from the pathway. Not having reached the end of the fence, she stopped, as she heard shots and saw in front of her men that were falling to the ground. She move a little bit forward, and at this moment she could see a man coming from the bushes
(Volume No 30, pages of the file 84-86)

- Protocol of presenting a person for recognition with participation of Koval N.V. and the use of photoboard, according to which, she, due to distinctive marks (height, body-built, and general face features) recognized Tsigelnik (Shevtsov) G.A. as the man whom she had seen on 26.06.98 running from the scene of the murder of Petukhov.

Recognizable Tsigelnik (Shevtsov), at the end of the mentioned investigative action, said that he completely agreed with the evidence of Koval.
(Volume No 70, pages of the file 19-26)

- announced and examined in court in accordance with Article 281 of the Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation testimony of the witness Shevtsova during the preliminary investigation, according to which the administration of the town Nefteyugansk was dependent on the OJSC oil company Yukos, actually, an investment credit was provided for a period of two years to the company, and the oil company Yukos, it its turn, promised to make regularly current payments. However, at the end of 1997, there started to happen interruptions with payments. Petukhov V.A. came up with a proposal to the oil company Yukos to review the conditions on taxes and making current payments in full volume.

At meeting of Petukhov with representatives of the mentioned company, the latter put forward different variants of financial arrangements instead of annulling the debts on investment tax credit. Petukhov, having said that this variant was a criminal one, rejected it. In his turn, the representative of the oil company Yukos Dubov said that the oil company, in any case, would move taxes out of the town through a value added tax and that they would accept the resignation of Petukhov and would themselves support it. On the same day, a new agreement was signed, but, un until now, the oil company Yukos, having taken the original of it for signing, has not presented it to the administration of the town.

Petukhov, concerned about the prevalent situation, orders additional examination of the oil company Yukos on taxes, in the cause of which members of the commission faced with counteractions, both from the part of the head of the state tax inspection of the town Nefteyugansk, and from the part of representatives of the oil company Yukos. After that, on the request of Petukhov, the prosecutor office of the town Nefteyugansk formed a commission to inspect the regularity of defining taxes that the oil company Yukos and the company ‘Yuganskneftegaz’ were to pay to the budget in the course of which corrupted data were uncovered.

The oil company Yukos had developed a strategy of evading taxes, namely, to create an illusion of overpay of taxes to the budget of the town, and that sum it demanded to be excepted on account of the investment credit. Petukhov, having renounce this proposal, announced his own inspections, and also addressed to the state tax inspection entities of Russia with a request to catty out a full-scale inspection of financial activities of the oil company ‘Yukos-Rosprom’.

On 24.06.98 Petukhov announced that he, at the request of a representative of the state tax service to present documents of the inspection, was going to fly to Moscow on 29.06.98. At that moment, in order to lobby through the town’s Duma their interests, the activity of representatives of the oil company Yukos was directed at aggravating the relations between the head of the town and a part of deputies of the town’s Duma. From the words of Petukhov it became known that representatives of the oil company Yukos had made attempts to bribe him, including making proposal to support by the company the whole administration of the town. By the legal service of the administration it was established that the enterprise whose promissory notes had been presented by the oil company Yukos, namely ‘ELTEM’, did not exist, and ‘ATLAS’ was not located at the given address. In the following, it was not possible to cash out the promissory notes of the company ‘ELTEM’.
(Volume No 30, pages of the file 32-36)

- Testimony of the witness Tkachev V.P. both during the preliminary investigation and in court, according to which an investment credit was signed between the administration of the town Nefteyugansk and the OJSC Oil Company Yukos with the delay of payments for two years and with payment on taxes during one year. In April 1998, after the payment of the oil company Yukos with promissory notes was declared illegal, Petukhov addressed this company and asked to pay taxes with real money and abrogated the investment credit. Until the end of April, hard negotiations were held, in the course of which a new agreement was signed, and the investment credit remained in force. However, this caused an even more intense confrontation between the oil company Yukos and the administration of the town, but there were no payments to the budget either.

Petukhov announced a hunger strike, and started to set people against the destructive police of the oil company Yukos. Further, Petukhov organized an inspection of the oil company Yukos. Moreover, the head of the state tax inspection of the town Nefteyugansk refused to carry out an inspection. At the request of Petukhov, the governor of the Khanty-Mancy autonomous district sent the head of the district state tax inspection. As the result of the inspection, disparities were established between the data provided by the district, state tax inspection of the town Nefteyugansk and the oil company Yukos. One of the demands of Petukhov was to carry out a complex inspection of the oil company Yukos by an independent commission.

At the beginning of 1998, during a meeting, Petukhov announced that representatives of the oil company Yukos had proposed to him a bribe to the amount of 300 000 US dollars. Apart from that, the administration of the town received a letter to the name of Petukhov of warning character.

On 25.06.98, during a meeting held by the governor of the Khanty-Mancy autonomous district with representatives of the oil company Yukos, Petukhov managed to defend his position, a mandatory protocol was drawn up. For 26.06 1998, at 10.00 a.m. a yet another meeting was set up in Petukhov’s office with representatives of the oil company Yukos on which some document was to be prepared and an analysis was to be conducted of the current payments, and the prepared materials were to be sent on by 06.0798 to a temporary extraordinary commission. Petukhov himself understood that, by his actions he touched some other’s interests and gave a guess that he might be killed.
(Volume No 30, pages of the file 74-77; volume No 33, pages of the file 186-193)

- Announced and examined in court, in accordance with Article 281 of the Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation, testimony during the preliminary investigation of the witness Parasyuk V.A. according to which, after coming ot Petukhov V.A. in the administration of the town, he raised the question about repayment of the debt and return of the social sphere from the OJSC ‘Yuganskneftegaz’ back to the town. At the end on 1997, Petukhov started to make a stand against the main taxpayers – oil company Yukos and ‘Yuganskneftegaz’.
(Volume No 32, pages of the file 87-89)

- Testimony in court of the witness Netunayev K.P., according to which, at the sessions of the town’s Duma, Petukhov V.A. announced that the OJSC Oil Company Yukos and the OJSC ‘Yuganskneftegaz’ were underreporting the taxable base. Apart from Petukhov, nobody made such claims at the address of the oil company Yukos. Petukhov, speaking at meetings, also accused the oil company Yukos and the company ‘Yugansneftegaz’ of not paying taxes. The speech of Petukhov at the meeting on 28.05.98 might serve as a pretext for organizing his murders by employees of the oil company Yukos.

- Announced and examined in court, in accordance with Article 281 of the Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation, testimony of the witness Piskaryov G.E., according to which, in 1998, he was am adviser of the group for regional programs of the Public Relations Department of the OJSC Oil Company Yukos. In June 1998, Nevzlin, the deputy of Khodorkovsky, sent him on mission to the town Nefteyugansk to analyze the situation and to find out the causes of the conflict of the of the OJSC ‘Yuganskneftegaz’ with the head of the town Petukhov. He was to meet with the head of the security service Shestopalov, and get from him materials on Petukhov. The materials were handed over to him by one of Shestopalov’s subordinates, perhaps, by Puchigin. Backgrounds were made up by somebody from the security service of the oil company Yukos.

The examination of the materials has demonstrated that the relations between Petukhov and the oil company Yukos, evidently, went sour, with the reason being the non-payments of taxes in full amount. It was stated in the materials that Petukhov refuses to be engaged in any contact with representatives of the oil company Yukos.

On 24.06.98 he arrived in the town Nefteyugansk, where he learned that the leadership of ‘Yuganskneftegaz’ was aiming at removing Petukhov from the office and at imposing in his place a person more loyal to the oil company Yukos.

On 26.06.98 Nevzlin and Shakhnovsky asked him to inform the public and the investigation that Petukhov’s wife was implicated in his murder. The same instruction was given by Nevzlin and Shakhnovsky to other employees of the oil company Yukos.

Thus, with the use of all possible ways, information was disseminated about implication of Petukhov’s wife in his murder. This was made in order to mislead the investigation.
(Volume No 33, pages of the file 10-13, 14-16)

- Announced and examines in court evidence made during the preliminary investigation of the witness Belan N.A., according to which Pekhukhov had harmed relations with representatives of the OJSC Oil Company Yukos even before he was elected mayor of the town, and after being elected, a conflict arose in connection with taxes. According to Petukhov, it is known that representatives of the oil company Yukos tried to bribe him in order to soften his position on tax payments.
(Volume No 34, pages of the file 168-174)

- Testimony of the witness Belyayev D.D., both during the preliminary investigation and in court, according to which Petukhov V.A., having assumed charges of the former head of the town, found out that the administration of Nefteyugansk had a debt amounting to 140 billion rubles. Oil companies, on account of tax payments, provided, at the mentioned sum, oil products to the intermediary firm ‘Rondo-S’, yet, later on, money didn’t reach the administration. Petukhov actively pushed the law enforcement agencies to take measures directed at the return of the monetary means and provided assistance in the investigation of this criminal case.

On 15.06.98, Petukhov, demanding to stir up the investigation, went on hunger strike. Being specialist in oil extraction and economist, Petukhov came to the conclusion that the OJSC Oil Company Yukos was hiding from the state big amounts of tax payments. With the help of the tax inspection, tax police and Control and revision Department of the town Nefteyugansk, he initialized an inspection of the oil company Yukos. Petukhov demanded to annul the converting of the OJSC ‘Yuganskneftegaz’ and oil company Yukos and to nationalize these enterprises.

On 23.06.98, according to the words of the bodyguard Smirnov, he learned that, on the building in construction, on the itinerary of Petukhov to his office, he noticed a man that was taking a sight on him. A police officed carried out inspection of this object, where, in fact, a man was spotted who then successfully escaped. As far as he knows, Petukhov had conflicting relations not only with the oil company Yukos and the company ‘Yuganskneftegaz’. He thinks that one of the reasons of the murder of Petukhov is the activation of the investigation of the criminal case, organization of meetings, recourse to superior authorities and his hunger strike. By his actions, Petukhov, undermining the image of the oil company Yukos, was a obstacle for this company.
(Volume No 30, pages of the file 29-31; volume No 32, pages of the file 205-209)

- Testimony in court of the witness Smirnov M.A., according to which he was a bodyguard of Petukhov V.A., and while accompanying him on 23.06.98, to his office, at 08.00 a.m., he notices on the building in construction a man, making covert observation, actually, he was trying to find out the itinerary of their movement. On the next day, a police office, being near this object, also saw this man. A week before the murder of Petukhov, suspicious telephone calls were made – somebody called and kept silence, then hang up at once. There were ten and more such calls a day.

- Testimony in court of the witness Podchinenov N.N., according to which he is inspector of search from the investigative group the Department of Internal affairs of the town Nefteyugansk and the district. According to the bodyguards of the head of Nefteyugansk it became known that anonymous threats were coming addressed to Petukhov V.A., and in the morning, 23.06.98., while accompanying Petukhov to his office, a man is watching them from the building in construction nearby. At the request of the bodyguards, he, in the morning, on 24.06.98., was keeping the watch for the mentioned object and saw a man there who spent there approximately 10 minutes.

- Protocol of presenting persons for identification with participation of the witness Podchinenov N.N., of 17.06.2005, with photoboard, according to which he, according to distinctive marks (height, body built and general marks) recognized Reshetnikov Y.V. as the man whom he had seen on June 24 and 25,1998, coming in and out of the building, located at the crossroad of the 12th micro district of the town Nefteyugansk.

Reshetnikov, who was being identified, at the end of the investigative action, didn’t exclude the circumstances mentioned by Podchinenov.
(Volume No 69, pages of the file 31-38)

- Announced and examined in court, in connection with being on the wanted list, testimony of the witness Dubov V.M., according to which has been acquainted with Petukhov from 1996, Against the background of differences on financial issues with regard to credits and the town’s budget, the relations with Petukhov worsened. As to connections of ‘Rosprom-Yukos’ with criminal structures, he said that the company has its own security service which is the best in Moscow.
(Volume No 30, pages of the file 242-247; volume 33, pages of the file 44-49)

- Testimony of the witness Simanovsky L.Y., both during the preliminary investigation and in court, according to which he, from June 1996, had been a member of the board of the OJSC Oil Company Yukos. Between leaders of the company and Petukhov there were certain contradictions in attitude pertaining to tax payments of social policy. In 1998, repeated efforts were being made to settle with Petukhov the issue of tax payments, but Petukhov canceled the agreements on investment project as well as other agreements. In May 1998, an agreement was reached about the payment of 100% taxes, and one of the points of it was renewal of the investment credit.

Although the OJSC OIL Company Yukos continued to keep its commitment with regards to current payments to the budget, this clause of the agreement was not fulfilled. As to connections with criminal structures, he supposed that there were none.
(Volume No 30, pages of the file 248-252; volume No 33, pages of the file 87-93)

- Announced and examined in court with accordance with Article 281 of the Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation, during the preliminary investigation, testimony of the witness Olontsova I.I. according to which OJSC ‘Yuganskneftegaz’ is a subsidiary of the OJSC OIL Company Yukos. In 1997, an agreement was concluded with the head of the town Nefteyugansk Petukhov V.A. on tern and conditions of tax payments. In 1998, another method was adopted of tax payments. By the beginning of 1998, the situation worsened. Petukhov announced claims on the OJSC ‘Yugansneftegaz’ in connection with the inappropriate tax payment. This organizations were several times inspected by tax agencies, in the course of which violations were found.

In April 1998, the administration of the town annulled the investment credit, provided in 1996, and trade-ins with assets was also annulled that earlier had been transferred to the town on account of settlement of debts, and that is why ‘Yugenasneftegaz’ became indebted. Taken in consideration that the OIL Company Yukos and ‘Yugansneftegaz’ are the biggest tax payers in the town and, in fact, the revenue part is formed at the account of them, it is evident that the town’s administration has made an incursion in the sphere of financial relations of these enterprises and impose its own policy.
(Volume No 30, pages of the file 63-69)

In spate of the fact that in the course of the current court session the witness Olontseva changed her evidence, saying that the OIL Company Yukos timely payed all taxes, and was not indebted to the administration of Nefteyugansk at the moment of the murder of Petukhov. The Oil Company Yukos is not involved in the killing of Petukhov, as the latter had numerous enemies, the court recognizes this evidence of Olontseva in court as not veracious, because it is totally rebuked by other proofs on this case.

- Announced and examined in court testimony of the witness Korablyova N.Y. during the preliminary investigation, according to which she had a chance to hear conversation between Petulhov V.A. and his wife Islamova F.S. when he informed her about threats directed against him. In fact, Petukhov personally had disagreements with the OJSC Oil Company Yukos. Apart from that, Petukhov received telephone calls with threats.
(Volume No 30, pages of the file 165-167; 185-188; volume No 32, pages of the file 114-115)

- Testimony of the witness Golubovich A.D., both during the preliminary investigation and in court, according to which, from May 1998 to April 2001, he was director on strategic planning and corporate finances of the Oil Company Yukos that had been registered in the town Nefteyugansk, and also was one of its shareholders.

During the period from 1998 to 1999, the Oil Company Yukos, in connection with low prices of oil, had an unstable financial situation, and it had big problems with tax payments to the budget, and that forced the leaders of it to obtain a considerable amount of foreign credits.

The murder of the mayor of Nefteyugansk Petukhov V.A. was committed on June 26, 1998, when in their company they celebrated the birthday of Khodorkovsky M.B. Later, when mass media started to report about the murder of Petukhov V.A., he personally asked Nevzlin L.B. and Khodorkovsky M.B. what he could say to foreign correspondents asking questions about involvement of the Oil Company Yukos in the murder of Petukhov V.A., and then Nevzlin L.B. said that, for the company Yukos, the official line of the murder of Petukhov V.A. is that it was the result of the conflict of his wife with local bandits regarding the control over a market in the town Nefteyugansk.

He knows that Nevzlin L.B. had totally under his control the security service of the company, even when he had not worked in the system Menatep-Rosprom-Yukos. The head of the security service Shestopalov M.I. was subordinated only to Nevzlin L.B., although he had to be under control of Shakhnovsky V.A. He knows for certain that the Oil Company Yukos provided considerable monetary means for working with law enforcement agencies, Mass media, for giving ‘bribes’ to journalists so that they refuse to publish information incriminating the Oil Company Yukos and its leadership.

He totally refutes the evidence of Nevzlin L.V. given by him during the preliminary investigation, on July 4, 2003, (volume No 4, pages of the file 44-49) that he didn’t communicate with Pichugin A.V. and didn’t give him any assignment. In spite of the service hierarchy in the Oil Company Yukos, according to which no one from employees could come up to members of the leadership without permission of security services’ head Shestopalov M.I., Nevzlin L.B. and Pichugin A.V. communicated with each other unofficially in Moscow, and also went together to the Caucasus. When several criminal cases were initiated against certain executive offices of the Oil company Yukos, threats started to come at his address with the demand not to disseminate information about illegal actions of the leadership of the Oil company Yukos. Nevzlin left the territory of the Russian Federation because criminal cases were initiated.
(Volume No 47, page of the file 249; volume No 76, pages of the file 122-131; 132-142)

- Protocol of watching a videocassette of 11.09.2006 with an interview of the former director on strategic planning and corporative finances of the Oil company Yukos Golubovich A.D. according to which he tells about noninvolvement of Nevzlin L.B. and Pichugin A.V. in crimes committed against Petukhov V.A., Rybin Y.L. and other persons. He gives explanation about illegal actions of the security service of the Oil Company Yukos and about criminal activities of the company’s leadership in the fild of economy.
(Volume No 76, pages of the file 30-51)

- The videocassette seen in court with the interview of Golubovich A.D.

- Testimony of the witness Mirimskaya O.M., both during the preliminary investigation and in court, according to which she is the wife of one of the leaders of the Oil Company Yukos Golubocivh A.D. During several years she, unofficially, worked as assistant of Khodorkovsky M.B. and was responsible for interactions with foreign states. She knows well one of the leaders of the Oil Company Yukos Nevzlin L.B. whom she characterizes as imperious, unbalanced man who places himself higher than others and inclines to solve problems with criminal means. She knows that Nevzlin l.B. held totally under his control the activities of the security service of the Oil company Yukos, that was headed by Shestopalov M.I. The latter was admitted to the position on recommendation of Nevzlin L.B., and that is why Shastopalov himself was very devoted to him and was ready to commit any criminal action for him or cover him.

After her relations and relations of her husband with Nevzlin L.B. worsened, once, when she was going in a car, an explosive device was set off, and later, in interiors of the cars used by her, they found traces of poisonous substance – quicksilver. She thinks, that behind all this stay employees of the security service of the Oil Company Yukos who acted on direction of Shestopalov M.I. and Nevzlin L.B.

On 26.06.1998 she was present at mutual banquet with the leaders of the oil company Yukos and personally saw that to the table where were sitting Nevzlin L.B., Khodorkovsky M.B. and Shastopalov M.I. came Pichugin who was earlier unknown to her. The latter said something to Shestopalov M.I., who, in his turn, said something to Khodorkovsky M.B. After that, Khodorkovsky became nervous and, moreover, made some loud remarks, and, based on their meaning, she understood that in the morning of that day Petukhov V.A. had been killed, and now the Oil Company Yukos could be accused of it. Trying to calm down persons around him, Shestopalov said that nothing would awful would happen, as he ‘got it all covered’ in law enforcement agencies.
(Volume No 79, pages of the file 150-155, 157-160)

- Transcript of the audio recording of a telephone message, according to which, on 26.06.98, at around 08.15 p.m., in front of the parking lot ‘Remonynik’, in the town Nefteyugansk, shots were made at two men and that two unknown persons fled from the scene of the crime.
(Volume No 23, page of the file 8)

- Protocol of the examination of the scene of the event of 26.0698, a schema and photoboard to it, according to which, on the scene of the crime, namely on the pedestrian pathway, located along the waist land in the Second ‘A’ micro district of the town Nefteyugansk, a pool of blood was found, and, in front of it, in the bushes nearby, they also found 18 used cartridges. During the examination of trees, manages were found of its branches and leaves with traces of soot.
(Volume No 23, pages of the file 2-7)

- Protocols of the incident scene examination of 11.07.2002 and photoboards with them, according to which, in a basement spaces of the hospital under construction in the 16th district of the town Nefteyugansk, a grenade and 12 ammunition rounds and a sawed-off short rifle were found and withdrawn.
(Volume No 69, pages of the file 11-118)

- Protocol of withdrawal of 27.06.98, according to which, a bullet was seized from of the chief medical officer of the Central town’s hospital, a bullet that has been taken out during the surgery of Kokoshkin B.Y.
(Volume No 23, pages of the file 64)

- Protocol of examination of objects of 04.07.2005 with a supplement, according to which, during the viewing of three cassettes, seized from Yegoshin S.P., it was found that they contain speeches of Petukhov V.A. with motivated demands on the leadership of the Oil Company Yukos and ‘Rosprom’ to settle debts on taxes and levies to the federal and local budgets, and also to spot the devastation of the town, as well as a piece about his announced hunger strike, and events happened after the murder of Petukhov V.A., namely, the situation on the scene of the committed crime, funeral of Petukhov, as well as popular meetings that took place if the town in connection with the killing of Petukhov. Speeches were spotted in which it was said that the murder of Petukhov was connected with his activities aimed at recovery of taxes hidden by the oil company Yukos to the federal and local budgets, as well as accusations of killing Petukhov at the address of the leadership of the oil company Yukos.

On one of the cassettes, on the 147th minutes of the videorecording, among peoples present at the meeting, one can see a man resembling in his physical characteristics to the defendant Tsigelnik (Shevtsov) G.A.
(Volume No 69, pages of the file 213-220)

- Protocol of examination of the premises of 27,06,98, according to which, in the office of Petukhov V.A., letters were found addressed to Petukhov V.A. and the content of one of them is of threatening character.
(Volume No 23, pages of the file 11-13)

- Protocol of examination of objects and documents of 12.08.2003, according to which, in the attaché-case of Petukhov V.A. documents were found proving his activity directed at receiving from the OJSC Oil Company Yukos tax arrears and launching a criminal case in connection with tax evasion. (volume No 23, pages of the file 15-25)

- protocol of examination of objects of 17.12.2003, according to which 15 cartridges were examined seized from the scene of the event, as well as the bullet, taken out of the body of Kokoshkin, as the bullet taken of the bode of Petukhov.
(Volume No 34, pages of the file 183-185)

- Documents confirming the provision of investment tax credits to the OJSC ‘Yuganskneftegaz’ and the OJSC Oil Company Yukos by the town Nefteyugansk, including in person of the head of the Administration of the town Petukhov V.A., as well as method of their paying back, and also a ruling concerning cross-cancellation of debts; documents characterizing relations of the Administration of the town with the main tax payer the oil company Yukos, namely, the Oil company Yukos and OJSC ‘Yuganskneftegaz’ used a entangled system of payments, which created an impression of timely paying taxes, and the Administration of the town, justifiably, in accordance with effective laws, demanded the repayment of the investment credit.

Apart from that, for decision, questions are being out forward on repeal of all benefits for the oil company Yukos and OJSC ‘Yuganskneftegaz’, termination of the Agreement on payment of current taxes with promissory notes and oil products, declaring of the town Nefteyugansk a subsidized territory. Letters containing demands of Petukhov V.A. with regards to legality of ruling of the head of the town No 202 of 14.04.98 and the decision of the local Duma No 238 on ‘Repayment of investment credit’ that is to be implemented on a mandatory basis, accusation by Petukhov V.A. at the address of representatives of the oil company Yukos about creation of critical situation in the town and about non-willingness to accept new conditions of the tax credit.
(Volume No 23, pages of the file 67-185; volume No 26, pages of the file 15-27; volume No 27, pages of the file 235-271)

- Draft of appeal dated 27.05.98, which contains the speech for a meeting, according to which, at the addresses of commercial organizations, including ‘Rosprom’, OJSC Oil Company Yukos and ‘Menatep’ claims are voiced, as well as denunciation of Khodorkovsky and Muravlenko for stealing monetary means.
(Volume No 24, pages of the file 72-81)

- Letter of the head of the town No 608 of 15.06.98, according to which Petukhov A.V. voices his protest against the policy conducted by the OJSC ‘Rosprom’ and ‘Menatep’, and in connection with that he launches a hunger strike and puts forward demands to file criminal charges in connection with swindle of the companies ‘Rondo-S’ and oil company Yukos, as well as fraud with false promissory notes, launched by ‘Rosprom-Yukos’, repay tax arrears, penalties and fines of ‘Rosprom-Yukos’, cancel interventions in activities of the agencies of local self-government of the town Nefteyugansk from the part of representatives of ‘Rosprom-Yukos’, ‘Menatep’, carry out a procedure of reversal of auction sales of the oil company Yukos, restore the economic independence of the OJSC ‘Yuganskneftegaz’.
(Volume No 24, pages of the file 82-83)

- Letter of the head of the town No 368 of 15.04.98, according to which Petukhov V.A. informing the governor of the Khanty-Mancy Autonomous District Filippenko A.V. about the decision taken on dissolving the investment credit, provided to OJSC ‘Yuganskneftegaz’ and OJSC Oil company Yukos, expresses a request of a full-scale inspection of the oil company Yukos.
(Volume No 24, pages of the file 89-90)

- Letter of the head of the town No 557 of 05.06.98 according to which, Petukhov V.A. gives instruction to the head of the State Tax Inspection of the town Nefteyugansk to collect tax arrears on payments to the budget from the part of the oil company Yukos, otherwise to draw a an order for canceling operation with all accounts of the oil company Yukos (Volume No 24, pages of the file 91-92)

- Handwritten text of the draft of a speech at the meeting of 05.03.98 and press-conference of 23.02.1998, in which critic is expressed as well as distrust of the policy of the leaders of the company ‘Yukos-Rosprom’, including of Khodorkovsky.
(Volume No 24, pages of the file 93-99)

- Copy of the article entitled ‘It’s time to look at oneself’ published in a special edition of the newspaper ‘Worker of Nefteyugansk’ of 07.01.98, according to which Petukhov V.A. in his interview criticizes the leadership of the company ‘Rosprom-Yukos’, including Khodorkovsky.
(Volume No 24, pages of the file 101-102)

- Analysis of the budget performance of the town Nefteyugansk for the first half year of 1997-1998, according to which the OJSC Oil Company Yukos paid to the budget 4% of the plan for 1998.
(Volume No 24, pages of the file 103-104)

- Copy of the inspection report by state tax inspection of Nefteyugansk of questions relating to observing observation of paying taxes by the OJSC Oil Company Yukos of 13.07.98, according to which, , in connection with systematic violations by the oil company Yukos conditions of the agreement on providing investment tax credit, the head of the town Nefteyugansk is making a instruction No 292-r ‘On investment credit repayment’. Taking into account the illegal character of the preference provided to the oil company Yukos for upkeeping housing facilities, by the decision of the head of the town No 1186 of 14.04.98, was annulled the payment offset of the rest of expenditures for upkeeping the spheres of housing and utility and social cultural. In connection with the violation of the oil company Yukos of the agreement on settling of current tax payments to the town’s budget, by the instruction of the head of the administration No 1236 of 19.04.98, the payment offset of the arrears is annulled with regards to payments to the local budget.
(Volume No 24, pages of the file 115-123)

- Reports of local police officers of the Directorate of Internal Affairs and the district Khalliulin F.M. and Grishin I.M., according to which, in the course of the crime scene inspection against Pekhukhov V.A., namely the bushes near the pathway, cartridges were found by them.
(Volume No 38, pages of the file 3,4)

- Background-memo of the head of the head of Nefteyugansk’s Zone Department for fight against organized crime Yeletsky V, according to which, before the victory of Petukhov V.A. in the elections, economic and political situation in the town was controlled by representatives of the OJSC ‘Yuganskneftegaz’ and OJSC Oil Company Yukos. In 1995, Petukhov creates an initiative group what started to carry out political fight against the ruling group. On 15.06.98, Petukhov addressed with an open letter protesting against the policy conducted by the oil company Yukos and finance-industrial group ‘Menatep’.

Further on, we went on hunger strike, demanding to launch a criminal case into tax evasion by the company ‘Rosprom-Yukos’, activate the investigation of the criminal case into fraudulence of ‘Rondo-S’ and oil company Yukos, ckear by the former tax arrears, as well as stop interference in activities of agencies of local self-government of the town Nefteyugansk from the part of representatives of the companies ‘Rosprom-Yukos’ and ‘Menatep’, conduct the procedure of annulment of the illegal auction sales to buy shares of the oil company Yukos and hand over the state packet of shares of the company ‘Yuganskneftegaz’, reestablish economic independence of the latter. To the address of Petukhov were coming anonymous messages with evident threats of his life.
(Volume No 38, pages of the file 115-121)

- Background of 22.07.2005, according to which , in the course of the investigation of the criminal case No 18/325543-04, proofs have been collected showing that, during the period from 1998 to 2003, the oil company Yukos, through firms under its control, conducted production and sales of oil products with the purpose to dodge paying taxes from the sum of net sales, received from realization of oil and oil products.
(Volume No 70, page of the file 8)

- Material evidence - four videocassettes with the recordings of the demands of Petukhov V.A. to leaders of oil companies, including the OJSC Oil Company Yukos, to repay tax levies arrears to the federal, regional and local budgets, as well as of the meetings that took place after the murder of Petukhov, as well as with the recording of the situation on the scene of the crime conducted against Petukhov V.A. and Kokoshkin V.Y.
(Volume No 69, pages of the file 239-240)

- Material evidence - defense grenade F-1 No 86/258-78/T, detonator ‘UZRGM-77 583’, sawn-off of a hunter rifle model ‘KO-8.2’ and 12 ammunition rounds, caliber 7.62 found and withdrawn in the basement premises of the building of a hospital under construction of the 16th micro district of the town Nefteyugansk.
(Volume No 69, page of the file 159)

- Information on commissioning of housing objects and construction industry of the town Nefteyugansk corroborating evidence of Reshetnikov Y.V. and Tsigelnik G.A. with regard to architectural changes in the town Nefteyugansk from 1998 to 2005.
(Volume No 69, pages of the file 45-52)

- Background on hydrology and weather conditions of 16.06.98, according to which, on 26.06.98, in the flood of the of the river Ob, the was a water level rise confirming the evidence of the defendants Reshetnikov Y.V. and Tsigelnik G. A. that, when they had been throwing away parts of the machine-gun ‘Borz’ and grenade F-1 into the flood plain, the level of water in it was high and had been overflooding the riverside relief.
(Volume no 69, pages of the file 54)

- Background of the Nefteyigansk Department of technical inventory, technical passport of the apartment, in which dwelled the affected Petukhov V.A. (town Nefteyugansk, 13th micro district, house 17, apartment XX) supporting the evidence of the defendants Reshetnikov Y.V. and Tsigelnik G.A. with regards to the location of the apartment of the affected and its individual peculiarities.
(volume No 68, pages of the file 56-58)

- Conclusion of the expert No 170 and a supplement to it, according to which, during the forensic medical examination of the corpse of Petukhov V.A., following damages were found: penetrating wound of the head with damaging of the boned of the cranial vault and base of the skull, coat of it and matter of the brain, with its contusion, a blind wound of the chest with wounds of both lungs, mediastinum, damages of the left collar bone, 4th right rib, right omoplate, effusion in cavitas leuralis (hemothorax) that were caused by the shot from a fire arm, charged with a bullet and not at short range (beyond the limits of influence of additional factors of a shot), and caused grievous harm to health on account of danger to life: abrasion of nose, forehead, left thigh, right knee ball, which emerged from the impact of a hard blunt object, or due to the fall and bump against such an object, and they didn’t inflict damage to health.

The death was caused by fire arm wounds of the head and chest with the damage of bode of the cranial vault and the base of the skull, of the brain, both lungs, which lead to traumatic shock and vast blood loss.
(Volume No 39, pages of the file 60-74)

- Expert conclusion No 742, according to which, during the forensic medical examination of Kokoshkin, the following was found: gunshot penetrating wound of soft tissues of the right shoulder, inflicting light damage to health on account of short-time disorder; blind shotgun wound of the left gluteal region inflicting middle damage to health on account of its long standing disorder; blind gunshot penetrating wound of the lumber region, penetrating one of the spinal canal with damage of the spinal chard that inflicted a grievous bodily harm on account of its danger for life. Direction of wound canals: from back to front, a bit from top to down; in the left gluteal region – from left tp right, from back to front, from top to down.
(Volume 39, pages of the file 97-98)

- Expert conclusion N 311 with a supplement to it, according to which , during ballistic tests, of 16 spent casings, found on the scene of the crime against Petukhov V.A. and Kokoshkin Y.V. and the bullet extracted from the corpse of Petukhov, are parts of handgun rounds caliber 9 mm to handguns Makarov (PM), Stechkin (APS), machine-guns ‘Kedr’ and ‘Kiparis’, PP-90, Kb-92, produced in a factory. The casings and the bullet, most likely, were fire by a gun which was a modification of the machine-gun Kb-92 ‘Wolf’ (‘Borz, produced in Chechnya), caliber 9 mm, with firing pin and barrel being self-made. The casing and the bullet were fired from the same type of weapon and suitable for its identification.
(Volume No 39, pages of the file 77-80)

- Expert conclusion No 79 with a supplement to it, according to which, during the ballistic examination of the grenade found and withdrawn from the basement premises of the hospital under construction in the 16th micro district of the town Nefteyugansk, it was established that the grenade in question is a standard ball, frag, defense one grenade F-1 factory produced and charged with TNT and standard unified military had grenade detonator of the type UZRGM, factory produced, classified as distant detonator. The grenade and the detonator are suitable for producing and explosion both as a separate device, and assembled, and they are related to ammunition category. The grenade, equipped with the detonator UZRGM, is a military explosive device.
(Volume No 69, pages of the file 150-151)

- Expert conclusion No 868 of 11.09.2002 with a supplement, according to which, during the analysis of a fire arm and ammunition rounds found in the basement of the hospital under construction in the 16th micro district of the town Nefteyugansk, it was established that; the fire arm can be used for making shots and is atypical middle barrel home produced fire arm gun, by sawing off part of the barrel and stock of the gun of a one barrel hunter short rifle of the type ‘KO-8.2’, caliber 8.2 mm, No 00234; ammunition rounds are suitable for shots of 12 usual rounds caliber 7.62x53mm to such rifles as ‘AV’, ‘AVL’, ‘BI-7.62’, ‘MTs-13’, ‘MTs-13-1’, ‘TsV-50’, ‘TsV-56’ and can be used also with corresponding army and hunter arms.
(Volume No69, pages of the file 131-132)

- Report on conducting of inspection and defusing of the hand grenade F-1 of 11.07.202, according to which. In the basement of the hospital under construction in the 16th micro district of the town Nefteyugansk, was examined and defused a hand grenade F-1, that is a frag and defense grenade containing the explosive substance (TNT) weighing 60 grams. A secure distance in case of explosion is equal 200 meters, with the mass of a fitted grenade if 600 grams, material of the frame is cast iron. The grenade is in service of the Russian armed services.
(Volume No 69, page of the file 147)

- Letter of the main expert of the Expert Criminal Service of the Main Department of the Interior Ministry of Moscow Kalashnikov V.N. of 03.06.1999, according to which the examination of the bullet withdrawn from the scene of the attempted murder against Rybin Y.L., committed on 24.11.98, at the address: Moscow, Udaltsova Street, house 34, and the bullet withdrawn from the scene of the murder of Petukhov V.A., the head of the administration of the town Nefteyugansk that took place on 26.06. 1998, it was established that both bullets are components of standard 9-mm rounds for the handgun Makarov, fired from a rifled gun, which was, in all likelihood, totally produced in a self-made manner and has a barrel canal with seven right rifles of a caliber close to 9 mm. Similarities are established of general characteristics, namely, quantity, direction, widths and tilt of primary and secondary traces from the rifle fields, as well as the distance between the corresponding traces from rifle fields. These bullets may have been fired from one and the same barrel canal, or from different examples of fire arms produced with the use of the same equipment and same fittings.
(volume No39, pages of the file 115-116)

- Verdict of the Moscow City Court of August 17, 2006, according to which Pichugin A.V. was found guilty of organizing, together with other persons from the management of the oil company Yukos, of committing extremely grievous crimes against Korneyeva V.A., Petukhov V.A., Fedotov N.V., Rybin Y.L., Filippov Y.L, Ivanov A.U., Kolesov V.L., committed by Shapiro V.V., Ovsyannikov M.V., Tsigelnik G.A., Reshetnikov Y.V.
(Volume No 42, pages of the file 1-56)

- Cassation ruling of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation of February 21, 2007, according to which the Verdict of the Moscow city Court of August 17, 2007, against Shapiro V.V., Ovsyannikov M.V., Tsigelnik G.A., Reshetnikov Y.V. was changed with regard to actions imputed to them, so the verdict against Pichugin A.V. was annulled , and the case was sent for further examination.
(Volume No 42, pages of the file 57-83)

- Verdict of the Moscow City Court of August 6, 2007, according to which Pichugin A.V. is pleaded guilty of organizing, together with other persons from the management of the oil company Yukos, of extremely grievous crimes against Korneyeva V.A., Petukhov V.A., Fedotov N.V., Rybin V.L., Filippov Y.L., Ivanov A.U. and sentenced to life-long imprisonment.
(volume No 42, pages of the file 84-196)

- Cassation ruling of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation of Jenuary 31, 2008, according to which the Verdict of the Moscow City court of August 6, 2007, against Pichugin A.V. shall be upheld.

Having assessed the presented proofs in the case, the Court comes to the conclusion about the egregiousness of the guilt of the defendant Nevzlin L.B. in organizing, together with Pichugin A.V., the murder of Petukhov V.A., in connection with the fulfillment of the mentioned persons of official activities, and committed by generally dangerous way, for hire.

The Court presumes that the motive of committing the murder of Petukhov V.A. was the fact that he, having been elected the head of the administration of the town Nefteyugansk, and having found that the oil company Yukos, the town-forming enterprise in the town, didn’t pay in full taxes to the budget of different levels, and this created in the town a tense situation. In the town, for a prolonged period of time, for several months, workers of the social sphere didn’t received payments, and in connection with this, Petukhov V.A., started publicly, including in mass media, to convict the leadership of the oil company Yukos of not paying taxes, and, on his own initiative organized his own inspections, and approached the state tax agencies and offices of prosecutors with a request to carry out a full-scale inspection of financial activities of the oil company Yukos, he was organizing meetings in the town, declared hunger strike demanding that the oil company Yukos pay taxes.

These claims of the head of the town Petukhov V.A. pertaining to non-paying taxes to the budget, was seen by the leadership of the oil company Yukos as influence, the statements of Petukhov V.A. were not acceptable for them, and because of fact that actions of Petukhov V.A. contradicted personal and business interests of the oil company Yukos, including interests of Nevzlin L.B., as one of the highest leaders of the company, who oversaw public relation activities and security matters, so, in this connection, Nevzlin, together with Pichugin A.V., one of the chiefs of the security service, made the decision to murder Petukhov, and this murder he financed and organized together with Pichugin that is fully corroborated by the assemblage of the provided proofs, so the court has no reason not to trust them.

As one can see from the materials of the case, during the preliminary investigation, apart from the version of a conflict between Petukhov and the leadership of the oil company Yukos, the investigative bodies studied and investigated other versions of his murder. In particular, such versions as: commercial activities of the firm ‘Debet’ that, before being elected mayor of the town, the affected had been headed, involvement in his murder of his spouse Islamova F.S. and other heritors, ‘conflict’ of Petukhov with Ms. Korsanenkova and the firm ‘Olga’ headed by her that owed the market in the town Nefteyugansk, ‘conflict’ of Petukhov with representatives of ethnical groups, revenge of criminal groups. However, none of the mentioned versions have found confirmation and all of them have been refuted by the investigation of this case, and the bodies of preliminary investigation gave corresponding assessments, and the Court totally agrees with them.

The Court presumes that the accusation of the defendant Nevzlin L.B. of attempted murder of Kokoshkin V.S. has not found its confirmation and should be excluded from his accusation, so, taking in consideration that, in compliance with requirements of the law, responsibility for an attempted murder can be implemented only if the defendant acted with a direct intention. As was established at the court’s hearings, the defendant Nevzlin, together with Pichugin A.V., is an organizer of the murder of Petukhov, and the bodies of the preliminary investigation and court sessions have not found proofs that he wished Kokoshkin V.Y. to be dead. And that is why the Court, agreeing with the attitude of the public prosecutor, considers it necessary to exclude from the accusation of Nevzlin L.B. the attempted murder of Kokoshkin.

Arguments of the defense about the lack of evidence pertaining to the accusation of him of the murder of Petukhov, with a criminal collusion with Pichugin directed at taking the life of Petukhov, and that the evidence of the witnesses Tsigelnik, Reshetnikov, Shapiro cannot be used as the basis of the verdict ad that the evidence of the affected Islamova F. believing that the murder of her husband was cause by his conflict with the oil company Yukos, are based on the presumptions that the company Yukos didn’t refuse to settle tax arrears and was provided current payments, are totally refuted by the above mentioned proofs, in particular, by the evidence of the witness Tsigelnik during the preliminary investigation, and of witnesses Shapiro and Reshetnikov both during the preliminary investigation and in court, in the part of it that the order to murder Petukhov came from Pichugin and Nevzlin who directly were financing this crime, and intermediaries were Gorin, Goritivsky and Shapiro, so the provided evidence the court holds for veracious, and they have been put in the basis of the Verdict, as they are in accord with each other and are corroborated by the totality of other mentioned above proofs.

The arguments that the oil company Yukos had no motive for murder of Petukhov V.A., because of the result of it its standing of the company would have suffered, are baseless. As the Court has established, the oil company Yukos used to hide the taxable profits and didn’t pay in full to the budgets of different levels, and that created a tense situation in the budget sphere in connection with non-payment of wages.

Petukhov V.A., being the head of the administration of the town Nefteyugansk, started to publicly inculpate the leadership of the oil company Yukos of non-payment of taxes, started to carry out meetings, went on hunger strike, and also approached the state authorities, tax agencies and prosecution bodies with a demand to conduct an inspection of financial activities of the oil company Yukos and achieved the decision according to which, it was proposed to consider using as a token of debt restructuring, the key assets of the oil field belonging to the company, and that represented a direct threat to economic interests of the OJSC Oil Company Yukos, its leadership in the person of Nevzlin and others, so, in connection with this, Nevzlin and other organized the murder of Petukhov, and this was fully corroborated in court sessions».