Russia's tax service to establish inspections of top businessmen
MOSCOW, September 24 (RIA Novosti) - The Russian Federal Tax Service will soon establish a trans-regional tax service for inspections of the country's top businessmen, a source in the tax service said Monday.
The source said a relevant decree could be signed in the next few days, adding that "this agency will be established for the check and control of oligarchs [business activities]."
The Federal Tax Service has refused to comment on the information.
Another source in the country's tax bodies said the initiative to check and control oligarchs business activities had long been mulled over in the Federal Tax Service.
"There are inspectors who check high-society elsewhere in the world, and the idea of establishing a similar agency here [in Russia] had also been considered," the source said.
There are proposals to inspect and monitor the business activities of major businessmen, sportsmen, artists and others, the source added.
There are now ten trans-regional tax agencies handling inspections of the largest legal entities in Russia. However, no tax agency has so far made a tax or financial inspection of the country's oligarchs.
Renowned Russian oligarch and Chukotka Governor Roman Abramovich, 40, whose net worth is estimated at $18.7 billion, is the richest among 52 other Russian billionaires on the U.S. magazine Forbes' latest list of the world's billionaires.