Measures to protect Russia's economic interests in trade with Germany insufficient

Measures designed to protect Russia's economic interests in its trading relations with Germany are insufficient to ensure that all revenue reaches the federal budget, according to the Russian Accounting Chamber. As reported by a Rosbalt correspondent, that conclusion was reached following a special investigation conducted between September of 2003 and March of 2004.

In particular, measures taken by customs and tax agencies were deemed insufficient. Thus, the anticipated growth of export tax revenues compared to the growth of taxable goods being exported bears witness to a huge illegal diversion of tax revenue from the budget for purposes of illegal profiteering. One of the schemes involved the fictitious delivery of export goods through a network of middlemen to raise costs. The untimely execution by the Russian government of the stipulations of the law 'On the federal Budget for 2002' served as the pretext for the non-payment into the federal budget of 369.8 million rubles in connection with the import into the country of parts and materials used in the manufacture of automobiles. As the result of a delay in providing corresponding documentation, Russia suffered a loss of 152 million rubles. As the result of the audit concerning the loss to the federal budget, the joint-stock company AvtoVAZ compensated the sum, voluntarily contributing 85 million rubles into the federal budget.

The total loss to the federal budget associated with the ineffective actions of the customs service in terms of compensating international insurance organizations for unpaid taxes totaled USD 57.1 million. According to the Accounting Chamber, the total sum owed to the federal budget by transporters as the result of the non-delivery of goods to customs was, as of April 1, 2004, 12.5 billion rubles.