Alim Bishenov, Managing Partner, BMS Law Firm:

Formally the Russian Code of Criminal Procedure contains a provision allowing to force a witness to appear in court, if such witness evades performance of his/her duties (Article 113 Russian Code of Criminal Procedure). However, it is applied when the witness refuses to appear in court for no good reason, and Sechin refers to performance of his job related responsibilities. Even if his workload does not prevent him from being present at a hearing, but Sechin still does not show up, this will be hard to prove, so the application of any forced measures is unlikely.

The most likely scenario is that they will announce his depositions given in the course of the investigation. Ulyukayev may refer to this fact when appealing the future judgment in the ECHR, since the European court often treats the impossibility to question a witness testifying against the accused as violation of his/her rights.