The Tanker Stops Here
// The Federal Tax Service Seizes the Property of a Major Shipper
The State and Business
It became known on Sunday that Federal Tax Service for Samara Region has seized property of the Volgotanker Co. worth 650 million rubles. Buildings, warehouses, automobiles and supplemental water craft were seized against claims dating to 2001 with the sanction of the court. This may prevent the beginning of the 2005 shipping season for the company, and the tax collectors are planning to make claims for 2002 as well.
Volgotanker is the largest river shipper in Russia. The company's fleet consists of 323 vessels with a total deadweight of 1.25 million tons. The company's income in the first ten months of 2004 came to over 4 billion rubles. The company's stockholders are a number of large offshore companies. Unofficial information holds that the company's management controls the offshore companies. The state holds 20 percent of its stock. The company was controlled by structures belonging to YUKOS until 2000.
Relations between Volgotanker and local tax authorities went sour four years ago and got worse last year (see Kommersant, December 25, 2004). The tax authorities considered Volgotanker's reimbursement of VAT unjustified (the company carries oil and petroleum products for export) and, after an audit for 2001, made claims of 715 million rubles against the company. Volgotanker appealed those findings and sent an open letter to federal authorities. Chairman of the Volgotanker board Aleksandr Aleksandrovich stated that, according to the logic of the tax authorities, a $80-million tax bill should be presented to his company, which would lead to its bankruptcy.
Kommersant became aware yesterday of the seizure of the company's property worth 650 rubles. Prosecutor of Samara Viktor Kazberov signed the corresponding decree on December 31 and, on January 12 and 13, agents of the tax service inspectorate (IFNS in Russian abbreviation) carried out the seizure.
Aleksand Bakhmurov, head of the Samara department of the IFNS, told Kommersant that the decision to seize Volgotanker property was made after the company announced that it would possible cease operations. We weren't sure that the company would be able to pay its tax debt, so the prosecutor made the decision for seizure, he said.
The protocol for the arrest (a copy of which has been obtained by Kommersant) indicates that buildings and premises, garages, warehouses, automobiles and the company's transport and support fleet were subject to seizure, a total of 142 items. Several of the companies oil-carrying vessels were also seized. Kommersant has information that the inventorying of the companies property is continuing. The property seized is worth only a third of the company's total worth, which has been valued at approximately 1.7 billion rubles. That is if they do not paralyze the company's operations, which would seriously influence it, Volgotanker vice president Andrey Kleimenov told Kommersant. It is definitely already possible to say that navigation in 2005 will be cut back.
Aleksandrovich said that the sharp increase in pressure on Volgotanker took place after the publication of the open letter to the president. The impression is made that local authorities are trying to complete the process of ruining the shipping company before the president can respond and before the federal authorities react, he told Kommersant. Volgotanker intend to file a complaint against the actions of the tax authorities in court. The company's observations and objections to the January 12 protocol have been officially recorded.
Bakhmurov told Kommersant yesterday that the tax inspectorate is acting strictly within the confines of tax law… There is no political order out against Volgotanker. He also promised more claims against the company. An audit of 2002 results began at the company on January 1 and will last into February. Bakhmurov said that there will be tax claims for 2002 but he could not specify a sum for them.
Kommersant will follow the development of these events.
Sergey Ryzhkin; Elena Haumova, Samara
All the Article in Russian as of Jan. 18, 2005
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