ABSTRACT
On 2 September 2003 President Vladimir Putin announced the official start of the parliamentary election campaign by setting 7 December as the date for the voting. But the campaign had actually begun two months earlier with the 2 July arrest ofPlaton Lebedev, director of Group Menatep and a major Yukos shareholder. Not only was Lebedev arrested, but Yukos' CEO, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, and his right-hand, Leonid Nevzlin, were called into the Prosecutor General's Office for questioning. Since then it has become clear that the main slogan for the election campaign will be 'Down with the oligarchs! ' .
