Commission To Look into Tax Payments of Russia's Energiya Space Company

CEP20000922000204 Moscow Izvestiya in Russian 19 Sep 00

[Article by Rauf Akhmedov: "Tax Almost Invisible" -- taken from HTML version of source provided by ISP]

[FBIS Translated Text] On 18 September, members of the Temporary Emergency Commission (VChK) in Voronezh Oblast decided to set up a separate subcommission. Its purpose is to check how the Federal Scientific and Production Center Energiya, one of the industrial giants, pays money to the state treasury. The Center makes various kinds of electrical equipment for spacecraft and, since recently, consumer appliances.

The VChK is a fiscal organization and was established at Chubays' initiative. It found its place in the oblast. For knowledgeable people and the press, its sessions present an opportunity to find out how the oblast's economy really functions, while rank-and-file people simply like the fact that there is an emergency commission which the plant and factory barons are quite afraid of. Controversy over the commission was raised by a complaint sent to the commission by the Rossoshanskiy Rayon head saying that the Energiya office located there does not pay money to the rayon treasury. Igor Kumitskiy, a VChK staffer and chief of the industrial section of the Main Economic Department at the oblast administration, told your Izvestiya correspondent the following: "It is a coincidence that we deal with Energiya, it runs almost no debts. We were even curious how they did it. So, we invited them for a conference without any ulterior motive."

But Energiya does have debts. They are simply transferred to its numerous branch offices. According to some information, there are 42 of them and according to the tax office -- more than 100. By the way, the Rossoshansk Radioelectronic Equipment Plant operated in all the recent years specifically as one of Energiya's subsidiaries.

As the commission members explained to Izvestiya, the concern's structure is unique. All of it is divided into a group of enterprises that are legal persons. Some time ago, VAT tax had to be paid even for moving production from one plant shop to another. Later, however, that problem was also resolved. The VChK people turn their heads: "A unique thing. A defense enterprise fulfilling state orders -- and it is still a closed joint-stock company. The state does not have a single share in its incorporation capital."

There is also a different view. The concern's director is convinced that outside of this surely quite bold scheme his conversion enterprise would not survive, following in the footsteps of ancient saurians. Thanks to the present arrangement, the Russian module "Zarya" for the international space station was launched into orbit in July. The entire energy equipment installed in it is made by one of the concern's "daughters." The Center has its backers also in the oblast administration itself. One of them said more or less the following: The VChK has lived for too long in this world and it is not particularly useful. "Meanwhile, the commission takes on those who are getting on their feet. For example, the Polyus Plant died and everyone keeps quiet about it," he added.

The commission, which was set up to investigate Energiya's operations, will have plenty of work. The Center (one of its branch offices, to be more precise) incurred a debt of 8 million rubles [R] to Vodokanal [water supply enterprise] alone. The debt to the thermal energy sector in Rossoshanskiy Rayon, which ignited the whole controversy, amounts to R9 million. It is difficult to say at this point how the investigation will end. The Center sent a letter to the VChK saying that it has no branch offices at all. The commission members will certainly dig up a great deal of violations, which, in their turn, will sink in the pile of all kinds of post-reform absurdities, such as mutual offsetting of debts, barter, promissory notes, money surrogates, and other weird things. All this will be topped by an iron argument: State orders to defense enterprises of Voronezh Oblast were not paid for several years in a row. "They struggled as hard as they could," a tax officer told Izvestiya. "Of course, they became wild and beastly. The main thing is, however, that they survived and will hopefully become civilized."

[Description of Source: Moscow Izvestiya in Russian -- One of Russia's most prominent dailies, now controlled by Vladimir Potanin's Oneksimbank.]

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