MOSCOW, Nov 12 (Reuters) - Russian legal proceedings could keep Mikhail Khodorkovsky, former head of oil giant YUKOS, in custody for up to two years, a top prosecutor was quoted as saying on Wednesday.
Russian news agencies, quoting deputy prosecutor Vladimir Kolesnikov at a round table discussion, said the oil magnate's time in pre-trial detention would depend on the volume of work to be handled by investigators.
"The case could be pursued within optimal deadlines, meaning within two months," Interfax news agency quoted him as saying.
"If there is a large volume of work, we could extend his detention up to 12 months, and if it turns out to be extraordinarily large, up to two years."
Khodorkovsky was detained at gunpoint aboard an aircraft on October 25, charged with seven counts of fraud and tax evasion and ordered held in prison until December 30. On Tuesday, a court rejected a bid by his lawyers to free him on bail.
Itar-Tass news agency quoted Kolesnikov as saying investigators were striving to complete their work quickly.
"It is our aim to carry out the investigation into this affair in the optimal time limits," Tass quoted him as saying.
Also on Wednesday, Russia's Natural Resources Ministry was due to decide whether to revoke Siberian oilfield licences from a key subsidiary of YUKOS.
The expected decision is seen as an indication of whether the legal assault by prosecutors is directed at the company as a whole or only at its billionaire boss.
Analysts say the case against YUKOS, Russia's biggest oil firm, has been launched at the behest of Kremlin hardliners keen to clamp down on Khodorkovsky's political ambitions.
The tycoon has financed opposition parties running against President Vladimir Putin's allies in December's parliamentary election.
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