Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
07MOSCOW664
2007-02-15 13:22:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Embassy Moscow
Cable title:
RUSSIA: PRICEWATERHOUSECOOPERS UPDATE
how-toVZCZCXYZ0033 RR RUEHWEB DE RUEHMO #0664 0461322 ZNR UUUUU ZZH R 151322Z FEB 07 FM AMEMBASSY MOSCOW TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 7489 INFO RUEHFT/AMCONSUL FRANKFURT 3180 RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHDC RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHDC RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
UNCLAS MOSCOW 000664
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
SENSITIVE
STATE FOR EUR/RUS, EB/CBA
FRANKFURT FOR SUSAN STANLEY, BILL COTTER
TREASURY FOR BAKER/GAERTNER
NSC FOR MCKIBBEN
USDOC FOR 4231/IEP/EUR/JBROUGHER
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: EFIN ECON RS
SUBJECT: RUSSIA: PRICEWATERHOUSECOOPERS UPDATE
REF: A. MOSCOW 466
B. MOSCOW 177
UNCLAS MOSCOW 000664
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
SENSITIVE
STATE FOR EUR/RUS, EB/CBA
FRANKFURT FOR SUSAN STANLEY, BILL COTTER
TREASURY FOR BAKER/GAERTNER
NSC FOR MCKIBBEN
USDOC FOR 4231/IEP/EUR/JBROUGHER
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: EFIN ECON RS
SUBJECT: RUSSIA: PRICEWATERHOUSECOOPERS UPDATE
REF: A. MOSCOW 466
B. MOSCOW 177
1. (SBU) The February 14 start to Moscow Arbitration Court
proceedings against PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC) on charges
of falsifying its 2002-2004 audits of former oil giant Yukos
was relatively quiet. The composition of the three-person
panel was approved, with PWC and the prosecution each being
allowed to name one member, the third being the judge in the
case. Arguments are scheduled to begin February 26. In this
case, tax authorities claim that PWC aided Yukos' tax evasion
schemes, and the prosecution is demanding that PWC pay the
Federal Tax Service a fine of USD 480,000, which is the
amount PWC received for its Yukos audits.
2. (SBU) In the second case against PWC, in which the
Federal Tax Service charges PWC underpaid USD 14 million in
taxes as a result of improperly expensing expatriate
salaries, PWC is preparing to file an appeal to the Supreme
Arbitration Court February 16. The court can then take up to
30 days to decide whether to hear the case. (Note: In
November 2006 the Federal Arbitration Court -- the last court
of automatic appeal -- ruled against PWC.) Despite
aggressive questioning of PWC senior management about this
case on January 30 by the MVD, no criminal charges have been
filed.
3. (SBU) PWC Global CEO Sam DiPiazzo (Amcit) spent the first
part of this week in Moscow, touching base with the firm's
major clients and a selection of GOR representatives,
although notably not Finance Minister Alexandr Kudrin. With
the Ambassador, DiPiazzo said he believed that a number of
discrete USG approaches to the GOR over the past two weeks,
including that of Secretary Rice with Foreign Minister Lavrov
on February 2, and Ambassador's consultations with Gref,
Prikhodko and Miller, had usefully raised the profile of
their case among senior GOR officials, including President
Putin.
4. (SBU) COMMENT. As these two PWC cases unfold, slow is
generally good, fast is generally bad, and the good news is
that things have noticeably slowed over the past ten days.
It is not clear if this is because senior GOR officials are
taking a closer look at the case, or due to simple
bureaucratic inertia. It stands to reason that if PWC was/is
an integral part of someone's calculations in the evolving
money laundering case against Khodorkovsky and Lebedev, it
may take sometime to adjust the strategy, should a decision
be made not to catch PWC in the Yukos net.
BURNS
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
SENSITIVE
STATE FOR EUR/RUS, EB/CBA
FRANKFURT FOR SUSAN STANLEY, BILL COTTER
TREASURY FOR BAKER/GAERTNER
NSC FOR MCKIBBEN
USDOC FOR 4231/IEP/EUR/JBROUGHER
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: EFIN ECON RS
SUBJECT: RUSSIA: PRICEWATERHOUSECOOPERS UPDATE
REF: A. MOSCOW 466
B. MOSCOW 177
1. (SBU) The February 14 start to Moscow Arbitration Court
proceedings against PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC) on charges
of falsifying its 2002-2004 audits of former oil giant Yukos
was relatively quiet. The composition of the three-person
panel was approved, with PWC and the prosecution each being
allowed to name one member, the third being the judge in the
case. Arguments are scheduled to begin February 26. In this
case, tax authorities claim that PWC aided Yukos' tax evasion
schemes, and the prosecution is demanding that PWC pay the
Federal Tax Service a fine of USD 480,000, which is the
amount PWC received for its Yukos audits.
2. (SBU) In the second case against PWC, in which the
Federal Tax Service charges PWC underpaid USD 14 million in
taxes as a result of improperly expensing expatriate
salaries, PWC is preparing to file an appeal to the Supreme
Arbitration Court February 16. The court can then take up to
30 days to decide whether to hear the case. (Note: In
November 2006 the Federal Arbitration Court -- the last court
of automatic appeal -- ruled against PWC.) Despite
aggressive questioning of PWC senior management about this
case on January 30 by the MVD, no criminal charges have been
filed.
3. (SBU) PWC Global CEO Sam DiPiazzo (Amcit) spent the first
part of this week in Moscow, touching base with the firm's
major clients and a selection of GOR representatives,
although notably not Finance Minister Alexandr Kudrin. With
the Ambassador, DiPiazzo said he believed that a number of
discrete USG approaches to the GOR over the past two weeks,
including that of Secretary Rice with Foreign Minister Lavrov
on February 2, and Ambassador's consultations with Gref,
Prikhodko and Miller, had usefully raised the profile of
their case among senior GOR officials, including President
Putin.
4. (SBU) COMMENT. As these two PWC cases unfold, slow is
generally good, fast is generally bad, and the good news is
that things have noticeably slowed over the past ten days.
It is not clear if this is because senior GOR officials are
taking a closer look at the case, or due to simple
bureaucratic inertia. It stands to reason that if PWC was/is
an integral part of someone's calculations in the evolving
money laundering case against Khodorkovsky and Lebedev, it
may take sometime to adjust the strategy, should a decision
be made not to catch PWC in the Yukos net.
BURNS