Russia’s richest man, billionaire Mikhail Khodorkovsky, and another major shareholder in his Yukos oil conglomerate, went on trial in Moscow today in a case that will delve into the murky privatisation process that accompanied the dismantling of the Soviet Union

WHEN one of the plum prizes went on the block in Russia’s chaotic sell-off of former Soviet assets, the highest bid for a stake was $1 billion — but prosecutors say Mikhail Khodorkovsky snapped it up for just $210,000.