Russia?s two best-known oligarchs have just got their rewards. Roman Abramovich was last month paid $13bn by Gazprom, the state gas monopoly, for Sibneft, an oil company that the publicity-shy billionaire had controlled with a group of unnamed partners. In the week the money landed in Mr Abramovich?s offshore bank account, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, formerly the main shareholder in Yukos, once the largest oil company in Russia, arrived in Chita ? one of the most remote and harsh Siberian prison camps.

Just over two years ago, the two men planned to create one of the largest oil groups in the world. As a result of the biggest merger in Russian history, Yukos and Sibneft would have accounted for almost a third of Russia?s total output. A significant part of the new company was to be sold to ExxonMobil or ChevronTexaco. But the Kremlin turned the tables. Today, it controls most of Yukos and Sibneft while Mr Khodorkovsky serves an eight-year sentence for fraud and tax evasion.