MOSCOW (AFP) - The Russian Supreme Court on Thursday ruled to grant immediate release to the jailed business partner of oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky, Platon Lebedev, whose term ends in May, Russian news agencies reported.

However the court upheld the state's 17 billion ruble (S$639 million) tax claim against Khodorkovsky, who himself was released last month after receiving a pardon from President Vladimir Putin, Russian news agencies reported.