New Economic School never supported opposition politicians – Guriyev

(Interfax – MOSCOW, June 11, 2013) The New Economic School (NES) has never helped opposition politicians, former NES head Sergei Guriyev said in an interview with Vedomosti newspaper, published on Tuesday.

“The New Economic School has never supported (opposition activist Alexei) Navalny or other opposition politicians. I supported Navalny from personal funds only,” Guriyev said.

Guriyev, who gave expert opinion on the second Yukos case and who became a witness in the first case, said that he had never received money from former Yukos head Mikhail Khodorkovsky and his partners.

“I have already said regarding those $50,000 the New Economic School received from his (Khodorkovsky’s) partner Konstantin Kagalovsky in 2003: firstly, this is not a considerable sum for the NES; secondly, I was not the NES head; and thirdly, I was on academic leave for one year, worked in Princeton and did not receive money in the NES,” Guriyev said.

Guriyev said that the accusations that he was “a grey cardinal” and “liaison” between Yukos and the NES were “utter nonsense.”

“There is a lot of such nonsense in the documents I have seen in the framework of questionings and other investigative procedures,” Guriyev said.

Guriyev said that the special border crossing regime, when border service was to report all his movements to the Russian Investigative Committee, extended to him and his wife as well.

“Unlike me, she is not a witness in the Yukos case. And this gives me grounds to suspect that such a regime regarding her is related to the fact that she supported Navalny financially,” Guriyev said.

Guriyev is a member of the expert council under the Russian government and of the council on personnel policy under the Moscow Mayor’s Office. The Russian Presidential Council for Human Rights engaged Guriyev as an expert over the second case against former Yukos executives. Guriyev said after the performed analysis that Mikhail Khodorkovsky did not deserve to be sentenced.

Sources said on May 28 that Guriyev resigned as NES head. It emerged later that Guriyev had been questioned in connection with the Yukos case and then had gone abroad.

The NES board of directors accepted Guriyev’s resignation as NES head and appointed Professor Stanislav Anatolyev as acting head last week.