Pay No Attention to the Perfectly Normal Man Behind the Curtain

Putin Defends Yukos Deal as ‘Perfectly Normal’

President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia today strongly defended the purchase
by a state-controlled company of the winner of Sunday’s auction for the largest
subsidiary of the oil giant Yukos.

"Today, the state, using absolutely legal, market mechanisms, is ensuring
its interests – I consider this perfectly normal," Mr. Putin told reporters
at a news conference in Moscow, referring to the purchase by Rosneft of the Baikal
Finans Group, which had widely been thought to be a shell company.

from the New York Times