Putin tells govt to draft proposes to reduce role of offshore firms
MOSCOW. Dec 12 (Interfax) - Russian President Vladimir Putin asked the government to draft proposals on scaling down the role played by offshore companies in the Russia economy.
"We need a whole system of measures to 'de-offshore' the economy. And I'm asking the government to submit a set of proposals on this," Putin said in his address to the Federal Assembly.
Russian entrepreneurs are often chided for not being patriotic, Putin said. "The offshore nature of the Russian economy has become a byword. Experts describe this as flight from jurisdiction," he said.
He said that by some estimates, nine out of ten major transactions concluded by major Russian companies, included government-related ones, are not regulated by Russian laws.
Putin said offshore firms had to be made transparent, they had to disclose tax information like they do in many countries during the negotiating process with offshore zones, with the signing of the relevant agreements. "All this can be done and must be done," he said.
"But if when a jurisdiction is selected the issue is resolved in favor of somebody else's legislation, then it has to be acknowledged that we have to rectify our own shortcomings in the legal system, in regulation, in the application of laws. Only after we can honestly acknowledge this can we radically alter the situation," he said.