“Hostile element” — Ekaterina Mikhalskaya for Novy Prospekt
The once popular partnership with foreign companies and the use of offshore companies is becoming increasingly risky. Even a simple contract concluded with any Western counterparty now poses a danger to Russian business. Formally, trade relations with companies from unfriendly countries are not prohibited, but legal instruments for resolving possible conflicts do not work. And the situation with Google shows the meaninglessness of the decisions of the Russian courts.
In the area of special attention
Experts consider the situation difficult. According to Pavel Balyuk, a partner at GRATA International St. Petersburg, there are not many restrictions directly for companies called offshore companies. In particular, Russian companies with a participation rate of over 10% of such legal entities cannot enter into state and municipal contacts, and if offshore participation exceeds 25%, then they can apply for government subsidies.
Ekaterina Mikhalskaya, Managing Partner of Prime Advice, is convinced that modern anti-sanctions legislation increases risks. Transactions concluded with the participation of offshore companies may be considered not only invalid, but also antisocial. And this entails the collection of all income received in favor of the state.
Experts consider the IKEA case to be indicative — a lawsuit filed by the tax service against a subsidiary of the Swedish corporation OOO Torg (formerly IKEA Torg). After the closure of the hypermarket chain, the remaining goods worth 12.9 billion rubles were sold to Market LLC.Trade" (a Yandex structure), and the proceeds were transferred to the parent company (NP wrote about the beginning of this dispute in the article "Foreigners in sanctioned captivity"). The Moscow Arbitration Court concluded that such a transaction required the approval of a government commission, and the bypassed transaction was "detrimental to the financial stability of the state" and was "deliberately contrary to the principles of law and order and morality." Therefore, all 12.9 billion rubles from LLC "Torg" were recovered from the federal treasury.
However, it is unlikely to be possible to actually receive this amount. Last year, LLC "Torg" ended with a loss of 762 million rubles, accounts payable reached 3.7 billion rubles as early as January 1. According to the Federal Bailiff Service, at least five court decisions that have entered into force have not been executed against the company since March. That is, by the time the dispute with the tax office is over (the case is currently being considered on appeal) LLC "Torg" will be financially insolvent.