Lenoblast May Break Contract
By Angelina Davydova
Special to The St. Petersburg Times
The Leningrad Oblast administration may not meet its liabilities under an investment contract with Philip Morris, Governor Valery Serdyukov said at a press-conference last week, while, at another press conference on Monday, he described the difficulties of collecting excise payments for the federal budget as "daylight robbery." He added that "The excise taxes have been taken away from us, even though we only built the factory because of those taxes." According to Serdyukov, under the agreement with Philip Morris, the administration must give the company between $43 million and $50 million in exemptions on tobacco excise. Until now, these excise taxes have been collected by the Leningrad Oblast administration and paid directly into its budget. However, according to a new federal law, from Jan. 1 onward, excise payments on tobacco and alcohol will be paid into the federal budget. In addition, the new excise rate will rise by 70 percent. "We will receive $33 million in excise payments from Philip Morris in 2002, according to the old rates. If we lose 100 percent of the tobacco excise and the federal budget doesn't offset that, we'll be forced to break our investment contract," Serdyukov said. He added that, since the factory opened in February 2000, it has generated a total of $150 million in taxes for the local and federal budgets. Serdyukov said that the Leningrad Oblast administration has sent a letter to Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin, proposing that the excise-tax rates remain unchanged, and that all revenues be left with the Leningrad Oblast. A spokesperson for Philip Morris Izhora, Marina Balabanova, said in a telephone interview on Monday that the factory had not been informed of the problem, having only learned about the information from reports in the press. "We have not yet received any official warning, so we think it's too early to comment," she added. Philip Morris International owns three factories in Russia - Philip Morris Kuban in Krasnodar, Philip Morris Neva in St. Petersburg and Philip Morris Izhora in the Leningrad Oblast. Production at Philip Morris Neva has been halted, with production equipment being disassembled and transferred to Philip Morris Izhora. The staff at the St. Petersburg plant will also be transferred to Philip Morris Izhora. Company officials have maintained that they have always considered the Philip Morris Neva factory to be a short-term project. The Philip Morris Izhora factory provides a complete production cycle, including tobacco processing and cigarette production. Philip Morris has invested $330 million in the facility. In 2001, the factory produced 25 billion cigarettes, with a maximum capacity of 30 billion. Philip Morris Izhora also exports cigarettes to Belarus, Ukraine, Moldova and Armenia. Brands being produced and sold in Russia include Marlboro, Parliament, Virginia Slims, L&M and Soyuz Apollon and Optima.
|
Перевести на русский
Print this article
