Bakhmina testified in court

Svetlana Bakhmina, Deputy Head of the Legal Administration of the company "Yukos-Moscow" on Tuesday, testified at a meeting of the Simonovsky Court of Moscow. As the defendant’s lawyer explained to RIA Novosti, Olga Kozyreva, Bakhmina agreed to testify, because the witnesses did not appear.

According to the lawyer, Bakhmina does not admit his guilt. The defendant informed the court that she was not a financially responsible person, since in the Council of Directors all decisions were made collegial.

The lawyer also added that Bakhmina “had no intent to commit a crime,” but was ready to pay the amount called by the charge.

In the trial, a break was announced until November 3. As expected, at the next meeting, witnesses of the prosecution will be questioned. According to state prosecutor Nikolai Vlasov, the prosecution intends to attract 80 witnesses.

The Prosecutor General’s Office accuses Bakhmin of embezzlement in 1998-1999 of the property of Tomskneft OJSC totaling over 8 billion rubles. In addition, according to investigators, this crime was committed by Bakhmina using an official position as part of an organized group.

Bakhmina is also accused of tax evasion on an especially large scale.

If the court finds Bakhmin guilty, she faces up to ten years in prison. Svetlana Bakhmina has been in jail since December 2004.