Paying taxes in the russian Federation should be considered bribery - International Working Group on Sanctions against russia
Kyiv • UNN
Many large foreign companies continue to operate in russia, despite its invasion of Ukraine, providing resources that may contribute to the war effort. Therefore, the International Working Group on Sanctions against russia proposes to treat the payment of taxes by these companies in russia as bribery, punishable by fines.
It is proposed to consider bribery, which should entail penalties, as the payment of taxes by foreign companies in russia. The proposal is included in the new Action Plan for further strengthening sanctions pressure on russia - Action Plan 3.0, which was presented by the International Working Group on Sanctions against russia, headed by the Head of the Presidential Office Andriy Yermak and the Director of the Freeman-Spogli Institute for International Studies (FSI), Ambassador Michael McFaul, UNN reports with reference to the document.
Currently, Western companies in russia pay substantial taxes to the russian government. A sensible first step would be to introduce a mechanism that would make companies operating in russia pay the corresponding fines in their home countries, as the US does for companies that pay bribes abroad. Paying the russian tax should be considered equivalent to bribery
The Group's representatives believe that all Western companies should leave russia while the invasion continues.
If they continue to profit from supporting russia's war against Ukraine, they should face sanctions. This is especially true of well-known Western companies such as Schlumberger and Raiffeisen, which have been affected by sanctions in critical sectors such as finance and oil. Western companies in other sectors, such as agriculture, healthcare, and retail, that continue to make money and invest in russia should also develop plans to wind down and exit their russian businesses. The value of their russian assets should also be considered
Recall
Despite the sanctions, many large foreign companies, such as Leroy Merlin, Philip Morris, PepsiCo, Auchan, Nestle, Alibaba, Unilever, Mondelez and Xiaomi, continue to operate in russia providing resources that could help the kremlin in its military actions against Ukraine.
