Tax Authorities Inspecting Law Firm With Yukos Among Clients

Russian tax authorities are inspecting a law firm that has Yukos among its clients, the Prime-TASS news agency reported, citing the law firm’s statement.

The tax authorities checked Pepelyaev, Goltsblat and Partners at the beginning of the year and did not find any irregularities. Checks conducted separately by independent auditors did not register any violations either, the company said.

“We hope that the current inspection will be carried out in compliance with the law, and won’t be used as a tool to exert administrative pressure on the company,” Pepelyaev, Goltsblat and Partners said in a statement to TASS adding that Yukos is just one of over 400 clients on the law firm’s books.

The visit by the tax authorities comes a day after the Moscow arbitration court accepted the request of Judge Olga Mikhaylova to step down from hearing a suit filed by Yukos. The Tax Ministry supported the judge’s request, justifying their opinion by saying that Sergey Pepelyaev of the law firm in question is the managing editor of a law magazine in which Judge Mikhaylova had four articles published in 2001-02.

The ministry sees this fact as interfering with the judge’s impartiality. Furthermore, Mikhaylova had a book published this year, which was also edited by Pepelyaev.

Pepelyaev said yesterday that his firm was currently being subject to a spot tax check, which “we view as pressure”.

Today the law firm reiterated that the Tax Ministry’s arguments are groundless, as under the law on the status of judges, a judge has the right to take up scientific, teaching, literary, or other creative activity alongside their main employment, and has the right to be rewarded for these jobs.

Judge Mikhaylova had been hearing an appeal by Yukos seeking to find the 14 April court ruling that it must pay 99.3 billion rubles ($3.4 billion) in back taxes unlawful.



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