RusEnergy

MOSCOW. (RIA Novosti economic commentator Vasily Zubkov) - Yelena Tolgskaya, an official spokeswoman for the Federal Taxation Service, today told RIA Novosti that no new tax claims had been filed against TNK-BP. A routine audit of the company's accounts is all that is being conducted. Moreover, the Arbitration Court has not yet ruled on the previous tax claims to TNK-BP for 2001, which are worth 4 billion rubles ($142 million), as it postponed the examination of the case until May 23. The fog surrounding almost a billion dollars in back taxes and the Russian-British oil giant for a whole week is gradually dissipating, revealing the causes of the uproar. First, the political reasons. While President Putin urged foreign investors in Germany to invest more aggressively in Russia, reports emerged that the tax authorities were again on the rampage in the country and that the Kremlin was again flexing its muscles with regard to Russian business. This undoubtedly scared cautious investors. Moreover, the TNK-BP saga started hogging the headlines just a few days after the Russian leader had promised at a Kremlin meeting with the business elite that he would take efforts to solve tax issues under his personal control. Accordingly, the uproar around Russia's largest joint venture, which is seen as a prime example of international co-operation, can be interpreted as a blatant attempt to discredit the president. Secondly, another reason could be regular market speculation based on unreliable information. Immediately after news about new TNK-BP tax claims was leaked, most liquid shares fell by 2-5% and the RTS (Russian Trading System) index plunged by almost twenty points. Therefore, some Russian media, for example, Noviye Izvestia, presumed the reports about a new tax offensive against TNK-BP could well have been launched in someone's self-serving interests. An analysis of the entire chain of the scandalous leak could reveal who might have ordered it. The scandal around TNK-BP has served a catalyst to reinvigorate efforts against leaks used in self-serving interests. The head of the Federal Service for Financial Markets, Oleg Vyugin, has promised to submit a concept for an insider information law to the government within a month. The Finance Ministry, the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade and the Central Bank have approved it, and Vyugin is confident the law enforcement ministries will follow suit. Big business is still very young in Russia. It still has to learn ethical and moral norms that have taken shape in the West over the past two centuries. Tax claims may well be filed in the future against major Russian companies, as too many offences were committed in the past. Presidential aide Igor Shuvalov believes the authorities will continue to apply tough measures against taxpayers that break the law, even if the measures adversely affect the government's image. Meanwhile, Deputy Finance Minister Sergei Shatalov says it would be strange to limit the tax claims "to only one case." And with that he obviously meant Yukos.