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YUKOS Oil Company has filed a lawsuit against the Russian Tax Ministry to protect its business reputation. The complaint was filed with the Arbitration Court of Moscow, said YUKOS spokesman Alexander Shadrin.
According to Mr. Shadrin, YUKOS demands that the Tax Ministry refute the information contained in the Tax Ministry’s letter to the Prosecutor General's Office of the Russian Federation. The letter, signed by Deputy Tax Minister Igor Golikov, says that YUKOS owes the state RUR 150bn in unpaid taxes (about $5.2bn according to the current exchange rate).
“The company considers that this information is untrue, and it discredits and harms YUKOS’s business reputation,” Mr. Shadrin pointed out.
Last week, YUKOS sent a letter of protest to the Tax Ministry regarding the results of an audit inspection, which were presented to the company on December 29, 2003. Earlier, YUKOS said it would protect its rights in court.
In December 2003, the Tax Ministry completed the inspection of YUKOS’s tax payments in 2000. On December 29, the company received the results of the inspection, saying that it was guilty of wrongdoing and owed the state more than RUR 98bn in unpaid taxes and interest.
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RUSSIA IN FACTS
