mr. khodorkovsky is saying, that he is a true oligarchs. he is able to influence the political environment in russia. in any case, no. there is no immediate legal officers -- obstacles for bp. >> give us a snippet about the rest of the interview with mr. khodorkovsky. we will play the rest of it later this hour. you ask him about the worst experience he had during his 10 years in prison. twice i did ask him what the worst day was like. he said there had been 4000 of them. mikhail khodorkovsky, when he went into prison, he was russia's richest man in at a fortunate something like eight ou dollars. he was sent to an area of russia 4000 miles from the capital. we talked about his time there and what he liked for christmas. >> stay with "countdown." we will have more from that interview today on bloomberg television. he will describe his single most difficult day in prison. emperor's earth day has been followed by a a robust economic report and eight cents a rally rallye nikkei -- a sansa for the nikkei. the company is seemingly on a roll. we'r

just now live from london and mark is saying you believe that mr khodorkovsky the promise is to stay out of politics. well because khodorkovsky was found guilty of a very serious crime he served his time and he's entitled to an opinion his opinion is that there's there are political prisoners in russia and he has every right to have that opinion and he has every right to try and highlight what his opinion is however he has to do that in accordance with the law with russian law and he must not be allowed to embark on funding in n.g.o.s in russia whose sole objective is to undermine the legitimacy. of government or the right of or of the russian federation and it's comes as no surprise that the west in the form of politicians and journalists have whipped up a frenzy over mikhail khodorkovsky. it's important for your audience to know really who mikhail khodorkovsky was he's not some innocent businessman that was wrongly punished following the collapse of communism in russia the russian state was on its knees politically economically and legally and what emerged to take advantage of that

mr. khodorkovsky requested a pardon so he could see his aging parents again. an extra ordinary turnaround after 10 years of rivalry between president and prisoner, a move no one was expecting. once mikhail khodorkovsky is a powerful oil magnate, russia's richest man. then he was put on trial and charged with fraud and tax evasion. he always insisted he was innocent, the victim of a kremlin plot to prevent him from challenging mr. putin. why is he being released now? wider prisons as a amnesty looks set to release protesters from greenpeace and the riot -- bbc world news -- pussy riot rockband. it may be part of improving russia's image ahead of the olympics. it may also be a signal president putin no longer fears opposition rivals and can be generous in releasing them. >> khodorkovsky released just ahead of the sochi olympics. president obama has issued an ominous warning on the violence in south sudan. the u.s. is urging south sudan leaders to come together to begin political dialogue. the united nations says at least 11 civilians who sought refuge were killed

by really saying that mr hodder cost here thing well i come back to what i've said previously mr khodorkovsky applied for a pardon there was no compelling reason to keep him in prison for. for the remaining eight months that he was due to stay there given that mr holder cos he was due to be released in august anyway so he spent ten years in prison for mr putin's point of view granting a pardon. resolves this question ends that you cos case. smith his relationship with germany which is important to russia as well and is reported to germany and it's important to russia and it enables him to move forward which is from his point of view an entirely good thing. that mr holder cost as we know was convicted of stealing billions of dollars in oil assets so why in the west was he seen as a prisoner of conscience. i think the simple fact is that in any conflict between the russian government and the businessman start the acts the reflex response of the western media is to support the businessman beyond that of course mr holocaust he had lots of people involved in his businesses from abroad in foreign i

was always come here to bellini its he's still not quite because we haven't heard from mr khodorkovsky that himself according to russian school siege. the reason that he gave to russian officials she's in gemini was that his mother and who has been a few weekends that has been receiving treatment. here in berlin and he wanted to come the sb with her. the amazing berries that it turns out that said it was a car because his mother has no meaning domain for about a week or so i do. and she's still in moscow she said she may come here to be expected to come here very scene. of course to meet with some of it is slightly unclear that the students to gain his role very interesting of course hence the cheek and she was the foreign minister and a helmut kohl of the time the german reunification. a lot to do with the russians was time to set the cut for opening up towards russian concerns and he's being working on to hope that mr koda costs keep trying get in free for a couple of uses in the boys to the tv legal team there. so new at this hasn't come entirely opposite to believe that sending thi

so one of russia's highest profile prisoners the former oil tycoon mr khodorkovsky is now set to walk free he spent a decade in jail long tax evasion charges. big surprise. reports. he may well be one of the most well known prisoners in the world but the idea of a pardon for former russian tycoon mikhail khodorkovsky was unexpected to say the least rather really with. the news came absolutely out of the blue last time i spoke with him was back in august and he didn't show any intention of filing a petition i totally support any decision of his he needs to be set free his children and even grandchildren grew up without him a four hour q. and a and not one question about fred of course ski and then this if you don't know who the kospi recently wrote a petition asking me to pardon him he spent more than ten years in prison this is a serious punishment he saw as humanitarian reasons saying his mother is sick and i believe taking jus account of all the circumstances it's possible to take a respective decision and in the near future i will sign a decree to pardon him the former c.e.o. and f

by really saying that mr hodder cost care thing well i come back to what i've said previously mr khodorkovsky applied for a pardon there was no compelling reason to keep him in.

news well they have the discourse you see the russians are bad they lock up nice people like mr khodorkovsky and they won't let you out and they they they don't do the right things for human rights and then suddenly putin lets these people out and he course not for the first time he's completely wrong footed and they're just gossiping to rest because they didn't expect this. what about human rights said the fund. is a monster of course could they use him for their own purposes if he were willing i think to be very foolish if they try because the more you examine the history of khodorkovsky with business partners suspected of being murdered i don't want to slander the man but there are all sorts of very shady things in his past going well back into the ninety ninety's and the yeltsin era anybody who tries to set cut across the opposite sort of new mandela is going to have some work on his hands. all right investigative journalist robert honiss thank you very much indeed for your time thank you and now ben arras and it's a business they were easily axed i concerns a positive signal to the busi

hotel on his way to give a an interview to a television station germany in which he said that mr khodorkovsky was very grateful to the mercy of president vladimir putin for granting him this pardon now that really reiterated words that. the spokes people had put out in an open letter from mikhail khodorkovsky earlier on and which he he was said he was pleased that president putin had granted him this pardon on humanitarian grounds he also in that letter said basically that what comes next for him in the short term and not is family he's wanting to spend the holidays with his family and we're expecting his mother and father to arrive here from moscow on saturday as well as others to come in the very near future but he ended by wishing everybody a very merry christmas and a happy new year seems that spending time with his family as a free man is what's next on the cards for mikhail khodorkovsky peter all of us live in berlin thanks very much indeed for that latest update. this is r.t. international more news in just over half an hour from me for from me in the team in the meantime the issue of

putin is a very powerful man he knows what he's doing i believe his decision to grant him pardon mr khodorkovsky was political move it was a wise move putin is seen in a very negative light. it was a win win win situation basically for all parties for putin certainly for quite a call ski who could leave his prison his couldn't finish this. time before he actually served it and for the germans who appear as generous hosts and he said he's going to stay out of politics when he addressed the media but he's already saying he's going to stand up for political prisoners in russia well that's being political as. well it is of course it is political but. khodorkovsky does not have the standing like let's say looks on the soul to lead sheen all he's not in the us and mandela he's not a freedom fighter i respect his decision to support political prisoners we all should you know follow his footsteps basically. him staying out of politics is of course a difficult decision to make he is a political figure and whatever he says whatever he does will be seen also as a political move helical sees a businessman a

because of pressure from the west sorry you know they actually have the release of mr khodorkovsky do you think this will help to improve russia's image abroad russians piece of what russia's image abroad. well it helped to improve russia's image i get is i got your point. i am not to i'm not you i think what i what i said before you know that the people in the west and would have forgotten so quickly what has happened after the break of the soviet union the fall of the soviet union i mean it was in times of boris yeltsin there were the all the guards which have taken over poland were most influential in russia and to president putin came and you know be a criticizing today the influence of the other guys in the ukraine for example but we welcome somebody a representative of this group who has been imprisoned in russia so i'm not sure if it has something i don't i think it's a message to the that all the guys in russia have no influence on russian politics and to western world has to accept that maybe we should look in the west and would about the influence of all of the girls in our

mr. khodorkovsky. he'll be able to find a new way for himself. the second point is the bureaucracy between russia and germany are working very well together. that's very important for the solution that we find here. and the third point i is that te family comes together. it's amazing that the family, time before christmas. it's the time together. that's an important point for all of us, and tha that is for h of us. >> you met him ten years ago, where do you think he'll base himself. >> he has been in ten years in prison. he has to find his way to society. germany has changed. russia has changed. he has to decide what that means for his personal lifestyle and he has to look at what he'll do in the future. we'll hear from him tomorrow. >> what do you think he'll do? >> personally i like to think about the point that he is thinking about those inside the prison system. he will help them and the second point is to find a way personally inside society. he needs time. and that is for the family and the new solution which he will find in the future. >>

mr. khodorkovsky, thank you for joining me. >> translator: thank you. >>> throughout all these years, mikhailhas gone to liberal martyr of political opposition. he was russia's most famous political prisoner. even though he is out now, he says he will not go into formal politics. he wants to help build russian civil society as you heard. this case has been very closely watched by the united nations and many are saying that vladimir putin release d him at this time because he wanted to clean up russia's image ahead of the winter olympics in sochi but equally, many are saying, that vladimir putin felt confident enough at home and on the world stage to release the man who had, after all, been his arch political rival at this time. candy? >> thanks, christiane. and thank you all for watching "state of the union. "i'm candy crowley in washington. from all of us merry christmas and happy holidays. "fareed zakaria gps" is next. >>> this is "gps" the global public square. welcome to those of you around the world and in the united states. i'm fareed zakaria. first, a star studded panel to look back at

mr. khodorkovsky, until now, has denied. >> does this mean anything to investors in russia? >> it meant a lot 10 years ago. he was the principal owner of the largest company in the oiltry, the fourth largest company in the world, producing 2% of the world oil. they had to close the stock market for an hour to try to bring stability to trading. yesterday, upon news, stocks went up by him or one percent in russia. they are still the cheapest stocks and emerging markets. theikhail khodorkovsky was poster child for everything wrong with the investment case for russia, he has been replaced. it is not a huge difference. >> any idea how much money khodorkovsky has now? >> the thinking is he still has several hundred million. he had a company worth $36 billion taken away from him as a result of fraud charges. hide at least several hundred million before he ended up in siberia. >> ryan chilcote reporting on mikhail khodorkovsky. he knows the story of the man going back to his arrest in 2003 and before. time for the news feed. the economy grew faster in third quarter than estimated. g

foreign minister of germany hans dietrich genscher and it seems that mr genscher has been instrumental in making sure that mikhail khodorkovsky could come here to germany he also it seems help things along to make sure that mr out of course he could receive a visa to allow him to be here in the in europe and in berlin we're expecting to hear promised not of course yet the press conference to some thanks towards mr gage for the work that he's done it seems this is something that. i had been pushing for quite a long time and had been working towards now. since he's been in berlin as he said he he met with his mother his father and his son they're all saying that they're happy to be reunited we heard from him in an open letter that at the moment he really wants to concentrate on enjoying the holiday season with his family we don't know how much more we're going to see of mr hart of course after he gives this press conference later on sunday but that's where all of our eyes are focused right now to see what he has to say when he faces the world's media for the first time as a free man in ten years. we're all looking forward to he

when mr arar also told us he thinks it was neither a mystery or a surprise that mikhail khodorkovsky chose burnin as his destination. the reason why what of course he came to germany is very simple because his mother is here in hospital she's very very sick and this is not a secret and asked putin to release him because he wants to meet his mother before it's too late and. as it happened mrs p. was not here when the sun i drive but she's in germany. left on to germany for russia but of course she's now. well the western world's been debating what lies behind become khodorkovsky is released politician paul hampel from the euro skeptic alternative for germany party believes there is no hidden agenda in president putin's party. the people of germany don't do know very little about myself what a ski i mean he was known as an audit guard who had been put on trial in russia and send him to jail for the last ten years that is all you know the people in the west end would have forgotten so quickly what has happened after the break of the soviet union the fall of the soviet union i mean it wa

foreign minister of germany hans dietrich genscher and it seems that mr again she has been instrumental in making sure that mikhail khodorkovsky could come here to germany he also it seems help things along to make sure they missed out of course he could receive a visa we don't know how much more we're going to see of mr hart of course after he gives this press conference later on sunday but that's where all of our eyes are focused right now to see what he has to say when he faces the world's media for the first time as a free man in ten years and political analysts and acts out on russian relations alexander rar was one of the first to greet me hail khodorkovsky on jan and soil and here's what he had to say his face didn't change in the past ten years i haven't seen him for ten years. and i think he didn't lose his humor he's still. very strong mood. xander rar was invited by the format german foreign minister. to consult him in his push to release. last politician paul hamm pulled from the euro skeptic alternative for germany party why what of course kay's enjoying such a welcome in his country people germany do know very li

terms of statements that we've heard regarding mikhail khodorkovsky arrival here a spokesperson for angle or merkel the german chancellor said that mrs merkel welcomed me here to germany and the federal government recognized the work that mr again she had done making this possible now they also mentioned the the work that had been done behind the scenes between russia and german authorities in order to to make this happen in order to get because what it called ski into the country now from his own people from his own press. spokes person can see an earpiece spondon who's been working for me she put forward a an open letter that's been issued by mr holocaust in which he lays out exactly what happened from his side he says he put forward a petition to president putin on the twelfth of november for release on humanitarian grounds and that he was very glad that that it being granted he goes on to say that part of the petition said he didn't admit any guilt for the crimes that he. he was incarcerated for for those ten years he thanked his supporters and there was in that letter quite an emotional moment where he said that he just looked f

cold case lawyer as well as khodorkovsky himself say that they actually didn't ask for a pause and what's going on that. well we'd have a very strange case or miscommunication. mr gorski or all these people. without two years on your snow in about it it's possible because he is known to take his own decisions not necessarily taken advice or maybe missed important just decide that it's time to. any case i remember there was a lot of people from the russian liberal intelligentsia ask who can bargain for his term expires so what i'm sort of responded. to their letter so i would see . that announcement comes amid a new case against ucas what they're called skis for my company as you know how well it affects the investigation want to think. well. you course was a huge company and. billions of dollars certainly a lot of them a lot of this minute was not quite clean because you know they're going to get himself acknowledged that they did this all on tax up to my station a lot of this money is now abroad so i'm not surprised because it's been investigated. so i think that of course you're free doesn't exclude the possibility that he may be questioned about this money s

khodorkovsky and he's now a r.t. moscow. and mark armond is an oxford university historian and joins me now live to talk more about. mr armand welcome to our t.v. always good to talk to you. russia recently claimed some foreign policy big trees with these as well as iran's nuclear talks as much it appears in probably seeking to cement these even more by letting it go or do you think what us is really silly. well it may well be a way of putting a dampener on the and to russian campaign which goes on in the west media and so over human rights that if you let out a very wealthy only go if you release the riot greenpeace. as well as quite a large number. of criminals this will defuse some of the ongoing campaign and people who. symbols all. over the west and rights groups and it's very striking when this holocaust he's campaigning on very quiet in the last six months he's had a very me to say well hunted and very active campaign going on all of us ten years and so i feel as often is the case when you know the children are quiet you see what they're up to equally when suddenly a public relations campaign which is so well w

that mikhail khodorkovsky killed come here the german chancellor in a statement from the chancellor spokesperson angle merkel spoke first and she paid she paid tribute to the work done by mr genscher in bringing holocaust ski here to germany and she also praised the work done by the german government behind the scenes in making this possible and well could be called holocaust skeered to germany. where he is just behind me in the outlawed hotel now enjoying his family reunion. peter over there in berlin where more analysis from hans friedrich von plots he's a diplomat and germany's former ambassador to russia it looks like but lin has been working very hard to get cortical out of jail what's in it for germany well there are two points one one is. that the fate of. holocaust ski touched many people here who felt. he didn't get proper legal treatment and the second thing is of course that relations with russia are very important for for germany and europe and in fact the world but this affect relations between moscow and berlin and anyway. sorry can you repeat it i can communicate but won't this helping of quarter koskie have any impact on relations between moscow and berlin

mr hodder behaves when he's paroled and on release for sure he has. the line that he or i will talk about that in a minute what the implications are for putin and indeed for khodorkovsky but william is this something that the west will receive positively. i don't think so i think i think so yes. it's a sign of weakness if i may can conclude the sentence or it's a sign of weakness as the west will interpret it first you have to understand the reason for the propaganda campaign on the gay rights issue the holocaust is shoe on the pussy riot issue and so forth these are attempts to isolate russia and to weaken her while at the same time it justifies the so-called new cold war with a missile defense in poland czech republic turkey etc so. it's operate in a whole different level and i think some people in the kremlin president putin misunderstand the nature of western propaganda they will invent issues if they don't have them or because they let some children get in there let joe replied to that because you gave a very quick answer saying he has when we will say no just quickly respond to what . will basically i i disagree i think that the release of mr holder will be view