Bakhmina, 35, deputy head of the Yukos-Moskva legal department, was found guilty April 19 of tax evasion and embezzlement of $300 million from a Yukos production unit, Tomskneft. Prosecutors had asked for a nine-year prison term.
Attorneys for Bakhmina, the mother of two young children, appealed the decision the following day, asking the court to clear her of all charges.
"The court rules to change the verdict of the regional court of April 19 in relation to Svetlana Bakhmina," the judge said.
The court re-qualified Bakhmina's actions Thursday and canceled tax evasion charges, saying their statute of limitation had expired, but said embezzlement charges remain valid.
Bakhmina pleaded innocent during the trial, saying she was following orders from her immediate superiors. Bakhmina's defense team said their client was innocent.
"My client told the court she was not materially responsible," said lawyer Olga Kozyreva. "The board made all decisions collectively."
Bakhmina's lawyers also said tax evasion charges were baseless because the defendant already paid 606,040 rubles (about $20,000) in back taxes for 2001-2002.
After the judge announced the term reduction, he said Bakhmina could appeal for a postponement of the prison term because she had small children.
"If a regional court refuses to grant the appeal, you can file a complaint with us," the judge said.
Prosecutor Nikolai Vlasov said he agreed with the verdict.
Bakhmina was arrested December 10, 2004, following an investigation by the Prosecutor General's Office, which said she was part of a group that embezzled property belonging to Yukos's regional subsidiaries, Tomskneft and Eastern Oil Company.
Bakhmina was tried along with her former superiors in the Yukos legal department - Dmitry Gololobov, the head of the department, and Vasily Aleksanyan, the company's former executive vice-president.
Prosecutors accused Gololobov of embezzling Eastern Oil Company shares worth over $112 million, but he fled prosecution in October 2004 and is now on the international wanted list.
Alexanyan is accused of embezzling $460 million from Tomskneft and of laundering another $460.8 million through his personal account in a Swiss bank. He faces 10-15 years in prison if found guilty.
