Bruce Misamore, the financial director of Yukos, was cross with the Russian government. $ 3.4 billion of tax arrears for 2000. The website Prigovor.ru reminds its readers of what happened on September 17, 2004.
On this day, on September 17, 2994, the financial director of Yukos Bruce Misamore complained to journalists about “the state” and promised to liquidate the tax arrears of Yukos for the year 2000 which had been found out.
Nobody was writing to Bruce Misamore
“Within the next couple of days, Yukos will pay 2.4 – 2.5 billion US dollars from 3.4 billion US dollars of the back taxes for the year 2000", said the financial director of this company in the course of an internet interview.
(For the understanding of these astronomic billions of tax arrears of the Khodorkovsky's company: in the same years, in 2004, the outstanding debt of Russia to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) equaled 5.1 billion of US dollars. By the way, it was completely paid off in 2005).
“Our clients pay in advance, our supple partners also make advances”, said Bruce Misamore. According to him, the management of Yukos over the two weeks sent about 50 letters to the Russian government, but the company didn't receive any answer. He explained, that the question of these letters was the restructuring of the Yukos’ tax arrears.
In all appearances, the government kept silent in response, alluding to the defaulters from Yukos that one cannot clear a debt with letters. And the most “transparent” company, which was hiding from the stockholders its tax tricks, had a lot to clear up. The Arbitration Court of Moscow fulfilled the demand of the Ministry of Taxes and Levies of the Russian Federation for recovery from the Oil Company Yukos 99.4 billion rubles of back taxes for the years 2000. Then the appeal body on June 29, 2004, confirmed this decision, which immediately became final and binding.
For instance, as of mid-September 2004, the company Yukos paid off only half of the back taxes for the year 2000. Based on the results of the tax inspection for the year 2001, the Russian Ministry of Taxes and Levies made tax claims to Yukos of around 120 billion rubles. At the beginning of September 2004, this Ministry filed a claim to the Moscow Arbitrage Court to recover from Yukos additionally more than 40 billion worth penalties for the year 2001. As was pointed out, The Ministry of Taxes and Levies decided not the recourse to the judicial process to recover from Yukos tax arrears and penalties to the tune of about 80 billion rubles, which were assessed as additional taxes for the year 2001, but to execute these penalty fees through an extrajudicial procedure.
(See also “Yukos as fraudulent tax-dodger”;
All these data on tax violations and astronomical sums of tax evasions destroyed the position of the Yukos management assuring the public in all possible ways that the company administered the affairs “honestly and transparently”. As to “the Western standards” which Khodorkovsky bragged about whenever an opportunity presented itself, it meant, probably, to harm the Russian Federation in every possible way. Out "Western partners" even today willingly encourage the destructive activity of Khodorkovsky-Nevzlin against Russia.
Shares of “subsidiaries” in exchange for taxes
On this very day, on September 17, 2004, the Moscow Arbitration Court confirmed the legality of the arrest of stocks of the 24 subsidiaries of the Oil Company Yukos, including shares of the Kuibyshev and Syzran oil refineries. A bit earlier, the Court refused to remove the attachment from the stocks of three extractive enterprises of Yukos – Yuganskneftegaz, Samaraneftegaz, and Tomskneft. The stocks of subsidiaries of the Khodorkovsky’s empire were arrested as security of the tax arrears for the year 2000, which amounted to more than 99 billion rubles. And this explained the absence of reaction from the government to 50 proclamations of Misamore and Yukos on restructuring of tax payments. Apparently, it was decided that with Yukos letters it would be impossible to settle the tax debts. But it would be quite possible to do it with shares.
Didn’t square accounts for neckties
And, finally, on the same day of the same 2004, another Arbitration process was ended not in favor of this oil empire. The question was about the Yukos’ indebtedness (https://www.kommersant.ru/doc/497156) to the advertising company “Astris S”. It had signed and fulfilled a contract worth 244 thousand US dollars, which stipulated the production of festive souvenirs dedicated to the 10th anniversary of Yukos. The sum of the deal was not that big for Yukos, but it was quite considerable for the advertising company. Part of this order was paid for, but another part of it – to the tune of 3 million rubles – "stuck". In order not to be left without money, this firm initiated a claim to the customer of the souvenirs.
The circumstances of this story were as follows. The 10th anniversary of its creation Yukos was celebrated not long before the beginning of the tax epic, in the spring of 2003. In all regions, where the company worked, festive celebrations were carried out devoted to this event, and all the participants of matinees and evening parties received as presents memorable trifles – pens, neckties, little flags, T-shirts, and even souvenir guns. In fact, not guns with which to shoot at people, but those that are used by drivers at gas stations. In particular, everybody paid attention to one slogan of these nation-wide festivities – “Yukos. We are 10 years old”. Soon appeared the Office of the Prosecutor General and confirmed: “Yes, you’ve got 10 years” – such a joke was circulating through towns and cities when investigation brigades became frequent visitors to the offices of this company.
One of the manufactures of these souvenir products was the firm “Astris S”. The order was accepted on the eve of the festivities and fulfilled, but the settlement in full didn’t take place. Having understood that it would be possible not to see money at all, the firm submitted the matter to arbitration, where the debt was recognized, and the claim was ruled for”, notes the website Prigovor.ru
(See also the previous article “On this day, Svetlana Bakhmina was served with "Vasyugan” and “Vakh”. “Bakhmina, being part of the organized illegal group of persons, has committed theft to the amount of more than 8 billion 60 million 122 thousand rubles”. The website Prigovor.ru reminds its readers of what happened on September 16, 2005.
