WB says: tax discipline requires favourable economic situation

The World Bank deems it sensible to strengthen the tax discipline, including in Yukos, in the most favourable economic situation. This is the opinion Kristalina Georgiyeva, World Bank Director for Russia, voiced on Friday.

"The tax discipline of large business should be analysed at a time when the economic situation is the most favourable," she said.

In her words, the Russian authorities should pay more attention to the investment climate, which has not reached the necessary level in Russia yet. Moreover, the Russian authorities should take into consideration the Russian capital flight, added Georgiyeva.

She believes that the situation around Yukos undoubtedly affects the Russian economy, but declined to predict its consequences. "It is wrong to speculate on such an essential question, which can have serious consequences," the WB spokeswoman said.

She believes that Russia's banking system deserves serious attention from the authorities. In her words, the recent upheavals in the Russian banking sector had a positive effect too. "This crisis showed that the banking system needs attention," said Georgiyeva.

She acknowledged that there is yet no unanimous viewpoint on whether the recent events could be described as a banking crisis. Anyway, she added, Russia's banking sector deserves the attention of the authorities because it is still underdeveloped. In particular, the WB representative continued, the role of the Central Bank in the banking supervision and in providing efficiency and transparency of the banking system needs to be clarified.