Auditors shared materials with investigation. 8 protocols “on failure to provide documents and information”. Exposure of machinations in the Closed Administrative-Territorial Unit (ZATO) Town Lesnoy. The website Prigovor.ru reminds its readers of what happened on July 21, 2003.
On this day 20 years ago, on July 21, 2003, the Accounts Chamber of the Russian Federation sent to the Office of the Prosecutor General of Russia materials of the review of “Eastern Oil Company” and Tomsk petrochemical refinery. As it was specified, the materials of auditors were sent to the Office of the Prosecutor General of Russia within the framework of a number of criminal cases connected with the company Yukos.
A LOT OF PEOPLE WERE SOLD SHORT BY THE GREED OF ROBBER-BARONS
The materials of the Accounts Chamber of Russia, as it turned out, became useful during the investigation of the of the criminal case over the “rippers of Eastern Oil Company” (VNK) –the organized criminal group of Khodorkovsky* misappropriated a 38% stock of shares of the company “Tomskneft” VNK, Achinsk Oil Refinery” and others that the state had put in the nominal capital of “Eastern Oil Company” to the tune exceeding 3 billion rubles. The state, in the person Herman Gref, first deputy head of the Ministry of Property Relations of the Russian Federation, proposed to Mikhail Khodorkovsky to give back the shares. The swindler Khodorkovsky refused to do it. Gref warned the insolent swindler-oligarch that it would be necessary to give the shares back, in one way or other.
(See also the article “On this day, six years of imprisonment were added to the ordering customer of murders Leonid Nevzlin”).
By his arrogant refusal to solve the problem and give back the shares through a pre-trial process, Khodorkovsky created problems not only for himself, but also doomed the participants of this scheme Vasily Aleksanyan and Svetlana Bakhmina to criminal prosecution. The swindlers from Yukos themselves also received their prison terms. On this episode, were sentenced Yukos “major shareholders” Mikhail Khodorkovsky, Platon Lebedev, as well as Ramil Burganov, office manager of the company “Yukos EP”, and Leonid Nevzlin, fugitive ordering customer of murders and attempted murders.
OIL ROBBERY AND BUDGET LOSSES IN 1998, 1999 AND 2000
Apart from that, the Accounts Chamber of the Russian Federation pointed out that “the results of the pre-sail preparation of the OJSC “Eastern Oil Company” have shown that the federal budget short-received from 250 to 425 million dollars from the sales of 85% shares of the company”. And, it goes without saying, the Office of the Prosecutor General of Russia was interested in receiving materials on finance discipline in oil regions. And there was “budget” robbery of “borehole kings”.
According to auditors, “the use by oil companies of internal prices negatively affects the formation of tax revenues to budgets of subjects of the Federation. So, for instance, only in Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Area, where 55% of oil is extracted by large oil companies, the budget losses for 1998, 1999 and 2000 amounted to 158.1 million rubles, 4.8 billion rubles and 26.9 billion rubles, correspondingly”, pointed out auditors, hinting directly that the problem needed a systemic solving.
AUDITORS OF ACCOUNTS CHAMBER FACED WITH SABOTAGE
And, in a year, in summer 2004, Yukos received auditors of the Accounts Chamber of Russia with open sabotage. As the auditors indicated, “in April 2004, were inspected open joint stock companies “Samaraneftegaz”, “Kuybyshev Oil Refinery” and “Samaranefteprodukt”, part of the group belonging to the OJSC Oil Company Yukos. The inspection both in the OJSC Oil Company Yukos and in its affiliates was being carried out in conditions of limited excess of inspectors of the Accounts Chamber of the Russian Federation to the bulk of financial and bookkeeping documents and to receiving explanations from managers and employees responsible for economic activities. In connection with the submission of documents not in full volume, as well as with violations of the terms of presenting information, 8 notes were taken pertaining non-submission of documents and information”, was pointed out in the report of the Accounts Chamber’s auditors.
The formal note was delivered to representatives of Yukos on July 13, 2004, yet the company refused to sign it. And only on July 27, the document was certified by the American top manager of Yukos Steven Theede. Thereat, there were no objections as to the results of the inspection. It’s interesting to note that other big oil companies reacted in a different way to analogue inspections of the Accounts Chamber – protocols of disagreements were compiled, during inspections some details were explained and specified, but nobody there thought about sabotage, although there were claims on them as well. For instance, with regard to the use of “internal prices” which everybody was pulling off. But to misrepresent sales oil as “borehole liquid” – that was figured up only in the “most transparent” oil company headed by the swindler Khodorkovsky.
EXPOSURE OF MACHINATIONS IN THE CLOSED ADMINISTRATIVE-TERRITORIAL UNIT TOWN LESNOY
On the same day, on July 21, 2003, the Office of the Prosecutor General of Russia started the inspection of legality of tax preferences which were granted to enterprises registered in the Closed Administrative-Territorial Unit Lesnoy in the Sverdlovsk Region. According to reports, of interest was, among other things, Yukos “scheme of using promissory notes”. Part of companies, registered in the town Lesnoy, paid taxes not with money, but with Yukos promissory notes.
“In the Office of the Prosecutor General, they assume that these enterprises are affiliated with the oil company, and Yukos, so the town administration by doing it, actually, had granted Yukos a long-term credit”, reported the press.
In the administration of the town Lesnoy, apparently, was funny – they assured that all suspicions of the Prosecution Office did not hold water. Yet this “water” turned out to be rather rough. During the investigation of common machinations of the Lesnoy administration and Yukos, was exposed a network of shell firms connected with Yukos, and it was proven that the mayor of the Closed Administrative-Territorial Unity Town Lesnoy Alexander Ivannikov had illegally granted tax preferences to companies controlled by Yukos (LLC “Mitra”, LLC “Forest Oil”, LLC “Busines Oil” and LLC “Vald-Oil”, depriving by this the budget of the municipal district “Town Lesnoy” of monetary receipts to the total amount of 13 497 166 700 rubles, and that entailed grave consequences to the guarded by law interests of citizens, society and state”, notes the website Prigovor.ru.
(See also the previous article “On this day, Steven Theede fled Yukos ship”. 52% of participants of a poll said Khodorkovsky didn’t interest them. The American Theede: “I refuse of my position”. The website Prigovor.ru reminds its readers of what happened on July 20, 2003, 2004 and 2006).
*On May 20, 2022, the Russian Ministry of Justice included M.B. Khodorkovsky in the list of physical persons executing functions of a foreign agent.
