Cyprus problems will affect Ukraine less than Russia - Financial Times

The introduction of a one -time deposit of deposits in Cyprus will more affect Russia than to Ukraine. This was written by the British edition of Financial Times.

“Many Ukrainian companies, as well as Russians, carry out business through special offshore tools or holdings registered in Cyprus. According to some estimates, billions of dollars of Ukrainian origin pass through Cyprus annually ... But this does not mean that most companies that use tax loopholes in Cyprus really hide money there. And if they do not, according to analysts, the influence on them will be limited, ”the newspaper writes.

“Even although many Ukrainian companies are registered in Cyprus, this does not mean at all that they store all their funds in Cyprus banks,” said Financial Times.

Events that are rapidly unfolding in Cyprus since the past weekend, forced many companies and wealthy residents of Russia and Ukraine, who have long been using legal methods to optimize tax payments, directing their income in offshore for a long time.

“I doubt very much that Ukrainian funds will somehow affect a one -time deposit tax,” said Jorge intrigue, partner Ernst & Young.

“In my opinion, Cyprus is not the place where Ukrainian investors keep large amounts of money. For Ukrainian business, the only purpose of using Cyprus is to withdraw funds from Ukraine to other jurisdictions so that this is effective in terms of tax reduction, ”the lawyer adds.

So why is Russia so outraged and reacted loudly to events in Cyprus? It seems that in Cyprus there are much more Russian money in Cyprus, probably just in connection with a large size of Russia. According to Moody's estimates, we are talking about $ 19 billion in deposits from Russian companies and $ 12 billion deposits from Russian banks, which is much more Ukrainian contributions.

Therefore, according to the member of the Supervisory Board of the NBU, Roman Shpek, “despite the fact that the Russian banking sector is large and larger developed, it is more prone to foreign influence, including from Cyprus,” the article says.

Recall that the decision to recover tax from deposits of residents and non -residents of Cyprus banks was made at an extraordinary meeting of the Euro group on the morning of March 16. The tax was one of the mandatory conditions for the country's financial assistance from international creditors in the amount of € 10 billion.

From bank deposits of a smaller € 100 thousand, a tax will be written off 6.75%, in deposits over € 100 thousand - 9.9%. It is expected that these measures will allow you to rejoice to € 5.8 billion.

The investors, according to the authors of the bill, will receive the corresponding amounts of the share in banking capital.

To write off a lump -sum tax on deposits