Yukos fined as deadline passes

MrPresident

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Beleaguered Russian oil giant Yukos is facing a $235m fine after missing last week's deadline to pay $3.4bn (£1.8bn) in taxes for the 2000 financial year.

Bailiffs are demanding a 7% charge for non-compliance with the payment order, rubbing salt into Yukos' wounds

Yukos has pledged to fight the demand as bailiffs prepare to sell its assets.

Meanwhile former Yukos boss Mikhail Khodorkovsky and his key business ally have appeared in court on charges of fraud, embezzlement and tax evasion.

A Moscow court has refused a request for the trial of Platon Lebedev to be postponed.

A lawyer for Mr Lebedev told the court that the case against his client should be halted because he was too ill with a liver complaint for it to continue.

The two men face prison terms of up to 10 years if convicted.

Both Yukos and Mr Khodorkovsky, who was led into court handcuffed to a prison guard, are said to be seeking a deal with the government.

Many observers and Yukos supporters see the trial of the two men and tax demand on the company as being politically motivated.

They believe the men and company are being punished by the Kremlin after Mr Khodorkovsky started to fund President Putin's political rivals.

Mikhail Khodorkovsky was arrested in October 2003 when armed members of the Russian security police force, FSB, stormed his private jet at an airport in Siberia.

Yukos, which accounts for 4% of Russia's economy, has repeatedly said paying the back taxes ordered by a Moscow court could push it into bankruptcy.

The company has been bracing itself for bailiffs to enter their offices and start selling off its assets to raise cash since it missed the deadline on 7 July.

They have already seized computer equipment and frozen the company's bank accounts. They have also raided a registrar's office where lists of Yukos shareholders are kept and tax officials have conducted a thorough search of its 20-storey headquarters.

Yukos' total tax bill has ballooned to nearly $7bn and could grow further after audits of 2002 and 2003.

President Putin has said he is not seeking to bankrupt Yukos.

The company is seeking a deal with the authorities under which it would be given a breathing space in which to settle the bills.

And now, according to Russian news agencies, the government is studying a proposal by Yukos to pay $8bn in back taxes over a three-year period.

Yukos has sought to stagger the payments all along.

This is the first indication of a compromise by the government in the dispute.

A lawyer for Mr Khodorkovsky has reiterated that the tycoon's offer to settle the tax claim by turning over 44% of Yukos' stock still stands.

Russian officials have, as yet, given no indication that they are considering that offer.

Source

While Yukos deserve to be punished for dodgy business practices this looks increasingly like politically revenge for Khodorkovsky's support for Putin's rivals.
A worrying development for Russian democracy.
 
MrPresident said:
While Yukos deserve to be punished for dodgy business practices this looks increasingly like politically revenge for Khodorkovsky's support for Putin's rivals.
A worrying development for Russian democracy.

All the news these days out of Russia are worrying developments for Russian democracy. Makes me wonder why Bush and Putin get along so well.
 
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