SuperVChK collects taxes

Natural monopolies bought off the Cheka
Sergei Kiriyenko's widely publicized attack on natural monopolies ended before it even began. At yesterday's meeting of the Cheka, at which it was supposed to forcibly withdraw taxes from the Ministry of Railways, Gazprom and RAO UES of Russia, none of the monopolists simply showed up. The Cheka had no choice but to take revenge on individuals and relatively small debtors.

Much was expected from yesterday's meeting of the Cheka. The President timed it to coincide with the removal from posts of government officials responsible for replenishing the treasury, as well as, as Sergei Yastrzhembsky put it, the publication of a “financial target list.” The Prime Minister promised to seize the receivables of Gazprom, RAO UES of Russia and the Ministry of Railways if they do not pay their tax debts by the end of this week.
However, on the eve of the meeting, the White House backed down. Government sources said that natural monopolies will not be touched, as they promised to repay the debt to the treasury by the end of the week. The feasibility of such promises was immediately questioned. Gazprom alone, according to the State Tax Inspectorate, owes the state 4.5 billion rubles. And indeed, the natural monopolies apparently had no intention of repaying all their debts. The press service of the Ministry of Railways generally issued a statement that the railways do not owe anything to the government. Well, the government did not dare to touch RAO UES of Russia at all - the chairman of the board of directors of RAO Anatoly Chubais, with the personal permission of Boris Yeltsin, is in the United States, where he persuades investors and the IMF to invest money in Russia. So, despite the fact that, according to RAO itself, it will be able to pay only 280 million of the 800 million rubles of taxes due in May, Chubais is now clearly not in danger of resignation.
In this situation, both natural monopolies and the government needed to find only the best way to save face. Sergei Kiriyenko said that the monopolies had paid off “a significant part of the debt to the budget,” which is why they were not called on the carpet. Well, the largest tax evaders, having transferred part of the money to the budget, readily played along with the president and prime minister.
The Cheka took revenge on relatively small debtors. OJSC "UralAZ", OJSC "Volzhsky Pipe Plant", OJSC "Korshunovsky GOK" will quickly go bankrupt. OJSC Razrez Borodinsky will have its receivables seized. A number of other enterprises were given until June 12 to repay debts to the budget. Among the top priorities for bankruptcy or seizure of receivables are OJSC Udmurtneft, State Enterprise Kuzbass Branch of the West Siberian Railway, OJSC Tyumenenergo, OJSC Orsknefteorgsintez. Representatives of the Cheka did not report the total amount of their debts. However, Deputy Prime Minister Viktor Khristenko said that each of the arrears summoned to the commission meeting owes the budget from 60 to 800 million rubles.
The “financial crackdown” promised by the Kremlin press secretary was started by the resignation of Alexander Pochinok (see material on page 1) and the appointment to this post of the former Minister of Finance, former presidential candidate, deputy and banker Boris Fedorov. The Cheka's "hit list" also included the heads of 11 alcohol and distillery factories, where the state retains a controlling stake. At yesterday's meeting of the Cheka, state representatives at these enterprises were instructed to prepare their dismissal.
The arrears - individuals - were left for dessert. Members of the Cheka were unhappy that last year the income tax collection did not increase, but even decreased by 6 billion rubles. The idea was put forward to create a Ministry of Revenue, which would unite all government agencies that are in one way or another responsible for collecting taxes. In the meantime, according to Khristenko, a unified computer database on individual taxpayers will be created in the near future, which will be available to all fiscal authorities.

KONSTANTIN Kommersant-LEVIN, IRINA Kommersant-GRANIK

Newspaper "Kommersant" No. 96 dated May 30, 1998, p. 3

Authors:

Irina Granik