Finance ministry: Russia’s anti-offshore policies yield results

MOSCOW, Oct 26 (PRIME) – Deoffshorization is no myth because Russian capital is actively coming home from offshore destimations after the introduction of anti-offshore policies, Deputy Finance Minister Alexei Moiseyev said in a speech at the Financial University Under the Government of the Russian Federation on Wednesday.

“We are partially seeing an active return of money from abroad, the money which used to be invested via Swiss accounts, and which is now being invested via Russian infrastructure,” Moiseyev said.

“A really interesting process, a so-called deoffshorization is not a myth. People indeed drive their money back to Russia on their own initiative, there is even some delisting from the London Exchange, some (companies) are abandoning double listing and do it only in Moscow.”

Under a law introduced in 2014, any company, where a Russian citizen holds a 25% stake or a 50% stake together with other members of his or her family, and registered in a tax haven is qualified as a controlled foreign company. Households and companies owning stakes in controlled foreign companies must pay tax on undisbursed profit to the Russian government, or become subject to penalties.

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