RusEnergy

MOSCOW, May 23 (RIA Novosti) - Moscow's arbitration court has postponed hearing on Tyumen Oil Company's (TNK) complaint about additional back taxes claims. The hearing was put off as the case papers are being studied at a court of cassation, a RIA Novosti correspondent reported from the courtroom. The Federal Tax Service's Inter-regional Inspectorate raised the claims against TNK in November 2004. The results of the audit of TNK's activities over 2001 when it was an independent company before merging with British Petroleum concern in September 2003 showed it had owed around 4 billion rubles (more than $143 million) in taxes (2.5 billion rubles in back taxes and about 1.5 billion in penalties and fines). However, on April 11, TNK received a new audit document that said the company had to pay 22 billion rubles in taxes for 2001. Thereby, the company has to pay a total of 26 billion rubles in back taxes. TNK-BP's press service confirmed the report. "We have time to set out our position, to agree to or contest the claims," said the press service. TNK-BP is a large vertically integrated oil and gas company. It was founded in September 2003 through the merger of TNK, SIDANKO, and BP's major Russian assets. BP owns 50% in the company, while the other 50% is owned by a team of Russian investors in Alfa Group, Access Industries, and Renova (AAR). TNK-BP's output in 2004 was 1.44 million barrels a day or around 73 million tons a year.