Former Yukos CEO Mikhail Khodorkovsky has said he wants Ukraine's imprisoned former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko to be released from prison as soon as possible and hopes that Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych will make the decision to pardon her.

"I wish from the bottom of my heart that Yulia Volodymyrivna [Tymoshenko] will soon be released from prison. I hope that President Yanukovych, who has recently had frequent contact with the president of my own country, will take an example of what has been done in a very concrete case when it comes to releasing a particular prisoner – at least one at first," he said at a press conference in Berlin, while answering a question from a Ukrainian journalist.

While commenting on the situation in Ukraine, Khodorkovsky said: "I am not indifferent to this country. Some of my relatives live in Ukraine. But today I do not possess the necessary information to say something."