GOG OFFICIALS INTERESTED IN ESTONIAN MODEL FOR

UNCLAS TBILISI 002698 SIPDIS SIPDIS STATE FOR EUR/CARC, EB/CBA AND EB/IFD/OIA, INL COMMERCE FOR 4231 DANICA STARKS TREASURY FOR OIA JEFF BAKER E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: EINV ECON ETRD PGOV KFIN GG SUBJECT: GOG OFFICIALS INTERESTED IN ESTONIAN MODEL FOR REVENUE SERVICE ¶1. The USAID Georgia Business Climate Reform Project (GBCR) sponsored and participated in a very successful visit of key GoG officials to Latvia and Estonia September 4-14 as part of its technical assistance in the establishment of a new revenue service. The new GoG revenue service will unite the activities of the Tax and Customs Departments with the Financial Police. Key counterparts of each country's revenue service made presentations, provided tours of their headquarters and local facilities, and provided details on their experiences in forming their organizations. ¶2. The Latvian State Revenue Service essentially maintains the separate identity of the three services -- tax, customs, and financial police -- while combining support activities including human, fiscal, and information systems management. The Estonian Tax and Customs Board integrates tax, customs, and financial police activities with no separate services. ¶3. The Georgian delegation will recommend that the GoG adopt a variation of the Estonian model. The GBCR is working with the Estonian Tax and Customs Board to have them assist in the development of the new Georgian revenue service. Nevertheless, due to sensitivities among the three agencies' staffs, the possibility that the Latvian model may be adopted still exists. ¶4. INL sponsored a two-day conference on September 23-24 with GoG Tax, Customs, and Financial Police officials to discuss improving their relations with the public and substantive issues related to the plan to merge the three agencies. ¶5. GoG officals participating in the visit to the Baltics included: Lasha Gotsiridze, First Deputy Minister of Finance Mikheil Giorgadze, Ministry of Finance Head of Reform Coordination TEam Kakha Baindurashvili, Tax Department Chairman Zurab Antelidze, Customs Department Chairman David Tsekvava, Ministry of Finance Head of IT Department Malkhaz Bitsadze, Deputy Head of Financial Police TEFFT