REUTERS/Grigory Dukor
Jailed Russian former oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky stands in the defendants' cage during a court session in Moscow in this April 5, 2010 file photograph.
Vladimir Putin will sign a pardon for jailed oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky "in the nearest future," the Russian president announced following a huge meeting with the press.
The ex-Yukos CEO has spent more than 10 years in jail.
Reuters notes that Khodorkovsky has still has eight months to serve of a jail sentence over two separate criminal cases that Putin's critics deem politically motivated.
Putin said Khodorkovsky did not seek a pardon until recently. Khodorkovsky's lawyer claims that the 50-year-old has not asked Putin for a pardon.
In 2004 Khodorkovsky was the wealthiest man in Russia and ranked 16th on Forbes list of billionaires.