Moscow ( CNN ) -- A Moscow court has reduced the sentences of jailed Russian tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky and his former business partner Platon Lebedev by two years , the Russian Legal Information Agency said Thursday . They will each continue to serve out an 11-year sentence , instead of 13 years , for oil theft and money laundering charges , the agency said in a statement . Wikileaks : U.S. long concerned by Khodorkovsky trial . This will make both men eligible for release in 2014 , Moscow City Court said . Khodorkovsky , an oil magnate who backed an opposition party , has been in jail since 2003 and was convicted in 2005 on charges of tax evasion and fraud . Pavel Khodorkovsky : Reason for optimism in Russia . In 2010 , when the pair 's sentences on those counts were almost completed , they were convicted on oil theft and money laundering charges , effectively extending their prison term by six years . The sentence was reduced Thursday after an appeal hearing over their sentence at Moscow City Court , state news agency RAPSI said . Musicians ' message : Free Russian political prisoners . Russia has faced international criticism for its treatment of Khodorkovsky , once Russia 's richest man , with countries including the United States accusing it of `` selective prosecution '' and abuse of the legal system . Khodorkovsky has said his prosecution was part of a Kremlin campaign to destroy him and take the company he built from privatization deals of the 1990s . The Kremlin rejects the claims . CNN 's Pierre Meilhan contributed to this report .
Mikhail Khodorkovsky will be eligible for release in 2014 . The Russian government has said it is considering granting him amnesty, but the Kremlin says he should not leave Russia until his sentence expires. Khodorkovsky , an oil magnate who backed an opposition party , was jailed in 2003 .