Hidden from view, jailed Putin foe braces for trial | Aug 31, 2007 | [cached]

His mother says that the once fiercely ambitious businessman has developed a more philosophical outlook, accepting the dismembering of his former empire, much of which has been incorporated into state company Rosneft.

"He has become more gentle. He isn't bitter. On the contrary," she told AFP after her visit.

"He told me today 'All that I did remains. The pipelines are working, the refineries are working, the technology I had installed to international standards is still working.

"'Rosneft has taken on our employees. Once it was a backward company and now our employees have put in there the things I invented, so my ideas are prospering'," she said, quoting her son.

Despite the uncertainty ahead, the former star of Russia's business world can now "live with anything", his mother quoted him as saying.

"He has books, which are very important to him. No one can ban him from thinking, reflecting," she said.