RT.COM: While some Russian businesses are feeling the pinch in Cyprus, Prime Minister Medvedev has voiced the idea of offshore zones in Russia at a regular meeting of the government, where a state project to develop Russia's Far East was discussed.
"If there is so much fuss going on, may be we should think of creating a kind of zone of our own in the Far East. We have bunch of good places there -- Sakhalin, the Kuril islands," Medvedev said, referring to the ongoing economic turmoil in Cyprus.
Speaking about the project, Medvedev called the budget for it as "unprecedentedly big" -- more than $323 billion. The money will be mostly spent on transport infrastructure in the two remote regions.
Offshore catch of the day
In offshore zones non-residential companies are treated to a number of privileged rules and undergo light registration, licensing and taxation. The Bahamas and British Virgin islands are among such zones and local officials pay little interest in the activities of international companies. Dmitry Medvedev hopes, some of the money, parked there, would "move" to a Russian offshore region, if created.
Russia has a number of so-called offshore zones, or special economic areas with favorable tax legislation. The exclave region of Kaliningrad is one of them. Chukotka region and Republic of Kalmykia were also among the privileged areas which have had reduced taxation until 2004. » | Thursday, March 21, 2013
