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Enterprises Owe ¼ Budget
The debt of enterprises and organizations to the budget amounted to 1.578 trillion rubles as of April 1, 2007, according to the RF Audit Chamber. Unlike Yukos, most of debtors are in no hurry to pay off. In view of today’s rates, the final settlement with the state treasury will take no less than 80 years.
Tax and customs arrears of enterprises and organizations to the budget are the highlight of the Audit Chamber’s conclusion elaborated for the draft budget of 2008 to 2010. After the large-scale restructuring of 1999 to 2002, their aggregate debt was fixed at 1.179 trillion rubles as of January 1, 2003. It stepped up to 1.826 trillion rubles by early 2005, but some decline was noted in the wake of the Yukos case.
The overall debt stood at 1.578 trillion rubles as of April 1, 2007. The 2007 budget revenues were approved by the parliament at 6.9 trillion rubles. So, if paid off in part and in whole, the amount would widen the state treasury by 23 percent. Of interest is that nearly half of the amount that debtors owe to the budget is not the principal debt but penalties charged for delay (776 billion rubles).
Except the companies with activities long terminated or being at the stage of bankruptcy (unlike generously paying Yukos), the better part of indebtedness traditionally falls at social organizations, engineering enterprises, housing and communal services, defense enterprises and agrarian firms. Making them to pay is a real problem and, in view of today’s rate of settlements, paying off will take roughly 80 years.
www.kommersant.com
All the Article in Russian as of May 17, 2007
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