Sibneft owes $1 billion in taxes

The Associated Press

The Russian Tax Ministry says the oil company Sibneft owes $1 billion in back taxes and has informed the company, news reports said in early March.

The Interfax news agency, citing unidentified sources in the tax ministry, characterized the assessment as a “claim,” but a company spokesman told Dow Jones Newswires that it “does not represent a tax bill.”

“We have received the Ministry’s opinion and we will be responding with our own thoughts,” the spokesman, who was not identified, said.

He said the Russian Audit Chamber has already inspected Sibneft’s financial statement for 2000 and cleared it of any wrongdoing in respect of taxes.

Yukos Chief Financial Officer Bruce Misamore said the company had responded to that appraisal but has not received a response from the ministry.

Sibneft historically has been one of the most aggressive users of onshore regional tax havens to minimize to its tax bill. The company had been set to merge with the Russian oil-producing giant Yukos, but that plan fell apart after Yukos head Mikhail Khodorkovsky was arrested last October on charges of fraud and tax evasion.

Khodorkovsky, who later resigned from the company, remains in jail as does Platon Lebedev, a top stockholder who was arrested in July.

The moves against Khodorkovsky, who is Russia’s richest person, and Yukos were seen by many as a Kremlin-directed effort to punish Khodorkovsky for funding liberal political parties.

The Tax Ministry has appraised Yukos’ back taxes bill for 2000 at $3.2 billion.