After graduating from the Moscow Institute of Chemical Technology in 1986, where he was deputy secretary of the Komsomol committee, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, together with other Komsomol activists, went into business, creating the so-called center for scientific and technical creativity of youth. Profits from trading computers allowed Khodorkovsky and his partners to open one of the first private banks, Menatep, in the late 1980s, which took an active part in the privatization that began in the 1990s. Khodorkovsky received his most famous privatized asset, the oil company YUKOS, as a result of the collateral auctions in 1996. Since then, this business has become Khodorkovsky's main one, and by the early 2000s he had risen to the top of the rankings of the wealthiest Russians. In the 1999 and 2003 State Duma elections, he financed the Yabloko and CPRF parties. In 2003, he entered into a personal conflict with President Putin, who suspected Khodorkovsky, among other things, of trying to use his capital for political struggle. The conflict ended with the de facto confiscation of Yukos and criminal prosecution - Khodorkovsky was sentenced to 11 years in prison. Having served almost the entire term, he was pardoned by Putin in 2013 and flew abroad on the day of his release. Since then, he has lived in exile and is involved in social, charitable and media activities, being one of the leaders of the opposition. What problems of the late Soviet economy led to the collapse of the seemingly indestructible USSR? How did Khodorkovsky's business start in the late 1980s and how did it fit in with Komsomol activism? What was he doing during the coup of 1991? What was wrong with the reforms of Gaidar and Chubais and why did Khodorkovsky refuse to participate in them? Why were the “red directors” unable to lead their enterprises out of crisis? What are loans-for-shares auctions and what did they have to do with the 1996 elections? How did the privatization of Yukos begin and why did it fail to attract Western investment? Why did Khodorkovsky start talking about the need to appoint Zyuganov as prime minister at that time? What happened at Yeltsin’s meeting with Chubais and the oligarchs at the beginning of the 1996 election campaign? Can the major businessmen of that time, including Khodorkovsky himself, be called oligarchs? What is a “family”? Why did Yeltsin choose Putin? What was Khodorkovsky’s attitude towards Putin and when did this attitude change? Why did Khodorkovsky sponsor parties with opposing platforms? What did the 1990s mean for Russia? Mikhail Khodorkovsky answers these and other questions in an interview we conducted with him on July 17, 2019. 0:00 The state of the Soviet economy before perestroika and Gorbachev's motives 9:07 How Khodorkovsky abandoned his Komsomol career and went into business 22:02 Meeting with Gorbachev and working with the government of the RSFSR in 1990-1991 26:15 The 1991 coup 32:35 About early Yeltsin 35:56 Gaidar's reforms and privatization 51:40 About the red directors 57:29 About the 1995 collateral auctions 1:01:59 About the privatization of YUKOS 1:08:29 About the 1996 elections and business support for Boris Yeltsin 1:14:14 About the oligarchs and their influence on Yeltsin after the elections 1:19:31 About the scandal with Svyazinvest 1:24:46 About "family" and its influence in the late 1990s 1:30:09 On the search for a successor and the emergence of Putin 1:37:17 On the need to "move left" in 1996 and what would have happened if Zyuganov had won 1:46:54 Why Khodorkovsky supported different factions in the Duma 1:54:58 What the 1990s were like for the Russian economy The Unfinished Time project website: https://theunfinishedtime.com/ The Unfinished Time film: • The Unfinished Time. Part I: Awakening • The Unfinished Time. Part II: Unfinished ... • The Unfinished Tense. Part III: Belovezh ... • The Unfinished Tense. Part IV: Shock ... • The Unfinished Tense. Part V: Cont... • The Unfinished Tense. Part VI: The First ... • The Unfinished Tense. Part VII: Vote... • Unpast tense. Part VIII: Mlador... • Unpast tense. Part IX: In search of... • Unpast tense. Part X: Take care of...