The scheme of fictitious rent. “The transfer was carried out only on paper - in fact, the Kuibyshevsky oil refinery continued to produce gasoline.
In those days 19 years ago, passion ran high around Rafail Zainullin, president of the Board of Directors of the Kuibushevsky oil refinery - he agreed with the termination of the criminal case on amnesty thus seriously aggravating the situation around other defendants of the "Yukos affair".
“UNDERPAID TO THE BUDGET 67.6 MILLION RUBLES”
In the second half of January 2004, Rafail Zainullin was apprehended, and before that he, in accordance with the criminal case initiated in November, had been under travel restrictions. According to the newspaper "Vedomosty", he was charged under Article 199, paragraph 2, of the Criminal code of the Russian Federation - "tax evasion on an especially large scale» that foresee incarceration for a term from 2 to 7 years.
"On Zainullin was imputed that, being the director of the Kuibyshevsky oil refinery, he had leased oil refinery facilities of the plant to a certain firm registered in a closed zone of preferential taxation (ZATO) of the town Ozersk (Chelyabinsk Region). Investigators argue that having gained in such a way preferences in paying excise duties, the Kuibyshevsky oil refinery only for the year 1999 underpaid to the budget excise taxes to the amount of 67.6 million rubles", pointed out the newspaper.
Managers of the company Yukos itself, commenting the situation around the Kuibyshevsky oil refinery, reversed the things from the oil refinery itself on the firm-renter which during the period of the lease had to pay excise levies. "According to the law, the factories in Samara for the period of the lease agreement were not payers of excise levies. What complaints towards them? Let the investigation sort it out with firm-renters and draw money from them", reported the newspaper with reference to a "representative of the company".
It has to be said that the investigation did exactly that, having found out that the rent was fictitious.
FICTITIOUS RENT WITH THE PURPOSE TO AVOID PAYING TAXES
As the newspaper «Kommersant» pointed out, «the question is about 67 million rubles of excise duties which the factory, according to the investigation, underpaid in 1999, making use of the well-known scheme with the closed administrative-territorial unit (ZATO) of the town Ozersk in the Chelyabinsk region. To this firm, registered in ZATO, under the conditions of the rent, was handed over the equipment to produce gasoline, and that enabled the factory to reduce taxes. But the investigation found out that the handover took place only on paper, and the refinery, in fact, continued to produce gasoline. In 1999 this case was closed for the absence of a crime, but at the beginning of December 2003, under the instruction of the Office of the Prosecutor General, it was reopened and, on January 22, 2004, Mr. Zainullin was arrested.
AMNESTY IN CONNECTION WITH THE 55TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE VICTORY
However, at the beginning of May, business publications reported that Rafail Zainullen are to be freed on amnesty, which means admission of guilt. The amnesty was declared by the Duma as early as in May, 2000, in connection with the 55th Anniversary of the Victory, under which men older that 55 years were set free, disabled of the I and II groups. And 62 years old Zainullin is a disabled person of the I group.
It’s worth explaining that, in case an accused or defendant under all criteria are included in the amnesty, than their agreement is needed, as an amnesty in itself an exculpating circumstance, and a defendant has the right to go through the whole process up to the pronouncement of a verdict.
But such an obvious thing some media outlets, reporting about the Zainullin case, presented as a «setting free in the court room in connection with the lack of evidence». Perhaps, the mentioned «inconsistencies» were launched for one purpose - to nicely move Zainullin out of the framework of the «Yukos case», like, he didn’t do anything wrong.
There were reasons for such a «cover’. As the newspaper «Kommersant»pointed out, «his criminal prosecution was stopped on no exculpating circumstances, and for the investigation he is a defendant. Taking into account that Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Platon Lebedev, the co-owners of Yukos, are accused od using the same schemes for tax evasion, Zainullin’s admission of guilt now can serve as an indirect proof of their guilt in court and on their cases.
FAULT ADMITTED, DAMAGE UNDONE
Apart from the Kuibyshevsky oil refinery, the same scheme pulled of also leaders of the Syzran and Novokuibyshevsky oil refineries, which were part of Yukos. On these facts, a criminal case was initiated, but soon it was closed «due to the lack of evidence». However, in 2003, the investigation was reopened as the scale of machinations of Yukos management had been assessed not only in one region but in the whole country.
Semen Michaylov, former director of the Novokuibyshevsk oil refinery, followed the scheme of Zainullin - he also admitted guilt within the framework of amnesty.
As to the case against the leaders of the Syzran oil refinery, at the beginning of June 2004, it was transferred to the Syzran City Court - Nikolay Lyadin, director-general of the factory, his deputy and chief accountant were accused of tax evasion to the tune of 20.86 million rubles. However, the Court dropped the case - the defendants admitted guilt and undid the damage.
ONE OLD LADY RUBLE, TEN OLD LADIES – A PRETTY ACCOUNT IN AN OFFSHORE
On a region-wide scale, these violations didn't seem worse than others. As to Yukos, it acted according to a principle - one old lady ruble, but ten old ladies mean already a round account on an offshore. That is why, on a national wide scale, with all Yukos schemes taken in one picture, everything seemed quite different - billions of sums of tax evasion, and, besides, all these «tax tricks» coupled on the vested interests of one and the same group of persons - the «main shareholders» of Khodorkovsky's oil empire. And numerous firms, having registrations in ZATO, were shell companies of Yukos, mentioned in various tax and criminal investigations», noted the website Prigovor.ru.
See the previous article “On this day, photos of fugitives from Yukos were downloaded on the website of Interpol”. Not only Dubov and Bruno. In Cyprus director of the laundry firms received forged passports. The website Prigovor.ru reminds its readers of what happened on January 31, 2005.
