OREANDA-NEWS. The Moscow Arbitration Court issued a verdict on the claim filed by Uralsvyazinform against Interregional Inspectorate # 7 of the Federal Tax Service for Large Taxpayers on invalidating the decision of the tax authority to press criminal charges against the taxpayer.

For the record, based on the results of a comprehensive field tax audit of Uralsvyazinform for 2003-2004, the inspectorate maintained that the company underpaid Rub 561,3 mln in penalties, Rub 107,4 mln in fines and Rub 87,9 mln in sanctions.

In its ruling, the Arbitration Court partially upheld the claim filed by Uralsvyazinform, recognizing that there were no grounds for assessing penalties of Rub 403,9 mln (72% of the total amount of penalties imposed).

In addition, the court rejected the claim filed by Uralsvyazinform with respect to the termination of LD traffic amounting to Rub 157,4 mln (28% of the total amount of penalties imposed). Uralsvyazinform plans to continue challenging the tax claims in a court of appeals.

More complete information will be available after the verdict of the Moscow Arbitration Court is handed down.