The FSB, together with representatives of the Federal tax service with the support of special forces and armored vehicles spent Tuesday operational activities in the offices of a major player in the vodka market “Status-group”, as well as in several wholesale suppliers and distilleries in the Kabardino-Balkaria.
According to Federal officials, actions were made on behalf of the President of Russia Vladimir Putin. During the operation, were seized documents, which can become a basis for initiating criminal cases for tax evasion.
As the source explained the newspaper “Vedomosti”, the factories in the CBD was produced vodka under the brand of “Rosspirtprom” through the wholesalers it had sold the company’s “Status group”. In USAIS reflected significantly large amount of excise, than in the declarations that has resulted in the growth of tax arrears. All of the Kabardino-Balkarian plants in 2015 declared 23.9 billion rubles less excise than was recorded in USAIS. To collect the tax only managed 1,871 billion. The Ministry of Finance estimates, only Kabardino-Balkaria damages exceeded 23 billion rubles.
A similar scheme, according to a source publication, it was decided to urgently stop. “But in order to initiate a criminal case, need the original documents. The Federal tax service and the Ministry of Finance has decided to enlist the support of the President,” the newspaper quoted an unnamed Federal official. The representative of the Ministry of Finance confirmed that the issue is controlled by Putin.
While specific to “Status groups,” the state of tax claims no .
“Status-group” was established in March 2012. Part of the company’s products (vodka low price segment) vodka is bottled at eight factories in Kabardino-Balkaria: distillery “may”, “Rus Alka”, “Antares”, “Everest”, “Hermes Nike”, “Onyx”, “Orion” and “Atlantis”. Until 2015 alcohol purchased from located in the city Cool (Kabardino-Balkaria) plant “Rial” Hadith Ayasegawa. In the spring of 2015 on the basis of retail audit research company Nielsen “Status-group” became the leader of Russian vodka market. In 2016, the company acquired the rights to distribute alcoholic VEDC portfolio (own vodka “Putinka”, “Баzар Воkzал”, Drova, as well as some brands PCF “souzplodoimport”, vodka “Stolichnaya”, “Moskovskaya”, brandy “Capital” and champagne “Soviet”.
The owners of “Status-group” acts Cypriot Larekono Assets Ltd and its affiliated Russian company “Astarta” and “Start Capital”. According to the register of legal entities of Cyprus, Larekono Assets Ltd 100% owned Ariantor Logistics Ltd, registered in the British virgin Islands, the beneficiaries of which were not disclosed.
