• Free Economic Zone (FEZ) - Altai
• Ingoushetia

The companies, registered in the FEZ Altai, are exempted for the period of five years from taxes in the part of payment transferred to the regional budget. FEZ Altai participants are exempted for the period of ten years from tax on profit and VAT in the part of payments transferred to the regional budget, gained from the construction and exploitation of objects of energetics, means of communication, airports, roads, gas-mains, restoration of ecosystems, construction of social infrastructure objects, production of building materials, production and processing of industrial and agricultural products, the construction of hotels, tourist complexes, development and introduction of resourses-saving and "no waste" technologies, processing of medicinal and technical raw materials.

Basic tax rates, paid by the participants of FEZ Altai:
• Corporate income tax - 13%;
• VAT - 75% of the existing tax rate;
• Tax on property of enterprises - 0%;
• Local taxes and fees - 0%.

The status of an International business companies (IBC), which are registered with the Centre under the said Law, by a unanimous opinion of the experts has maximum permissive potential in comparison with non-resident, exempted and other off-shore companies.

By law as non-residents of the Russian Federation there are considered:
1. physical persons having their permanent place of residence outside the boundaries of the Russian Federation, including those temporarily staying in the Russian Federation;
2. juridical persons incorporated in accordance with the legislation of foreign states located outside the boundaries of the Russian Federation;
3. unincorporated enterprises and organizations set up in accordance with the legislation of foreign states located outside the boundaries of the Russian Federation;
4. foreign diplomatic and other official agencies, as well as international organizations, their affiliates and agencies located in the Russian Federation;
5. affiliates and agencies of the non-residents mentioned in p. "b" and "c" of the present Article located in the Russian Federation.

~ "complete exemption of all taxes of the Russian Federation, with the exception of the registration and annual fees". These fees are not big and are fixed at $ 400 not depending on the type of the company or its successes. It's rather important, that although the IBC pay the registration fee "by the moment of submitting an application for registration to the Centre", they only pay the annual fee "by December 31 of each year following the year of registration in the Centre". Thus, a company registered, for example, in the beginning of the year of 2000 will only pay its first annual fee at the end of 2001, i.e. will be functioning for almost 2 years free of charge.

~ As IBC "in the Centre there are registered limited liability companies and joint-stock companies with the right to issue ordinary and preferential, registered and bearer shares".
The demands to the size of the registered capital of such companies are quite modest: $ 1'500 for limited liability companies and $ 15'000 for joint-stock companies. Besides, if for the former the registered capital should be paid in full by the time of the registration, the latter may pay only 10% at that moment and the remaining 90% should only be paid by the end of the third year of its existence.

~ "accelerated and simplified order of registration in the Centre as international business companies within three days after submitting to the Register of all duly executed registration documents".
In practice the registration seldom take longer, than two days, but for a small extra fee we may offer you an urgent registration within 4-6 hours or existing companies (both limited liability and joint-stock ones). What's even more important, your physical presence is not necessary at all - all matters may be settled by mail.

~ "currency autonomy of the international business companies and freedom from the currency control of the Russian Federation of the operations conducted by the international business companies; the right of opening and operating banking accounts in agent banks, authorized Russian and foreign banks". For a small extra fee our company will open for a registered company a transit hard currency or soft currency account in a Russian bank - AKB "BIN", the one in the top 30 of stable and reliable and in the top 10 of the fastest growing Russian banks. It is one of the two banks officially authorized by the International Business Centre. The process of opening the account is very simple and doesn't demand your physical presence in Moscow and you can also manage this account by a telefax or a modem. The use of funds outside Russia is not controlled and there are no regulations upon accountancy. AKB "BIN" undertakes all types of documentary operations, existing in the international banking practice, with all of the main currencies of the world and maintains correspondent relations with 20 Russian and foreign banks, including such influential foreign banks, as "Citibank" in the U.S.A., "Bank of New York - Inter Maritime Bank" in Switzerland, "Centro Bank" in Austria, "Commerzbank" in Germany. The Bank-Client system installed in the bank allows to serve a lot of clients simultaneously. Finally, we can open for a registered company an account in any of the foreign banks mentioned in the enclosed list. There are no limitations existing and no permissions needed.

~ "exemption of the goods imported for the needs of maintaining secretarial companies from customs duties and fees".
You would be able to use this benefit after opening a full-range office of your company. However, this is seldom done in practice, as the IBC management doesn't demand the physical presence of its owner in Russia, and if you would like to use the service "a secretary-on-the-telephone" or "the postal address" we would offer it in Moscow, which is much more convenient.

~ "keeping anonymous the owners of international business companies".

~ "keeping the commercial secret and confidentiality of commercial activity of the international business companies registered in the Centre, with the exception of the instances of their violating the legislation of the Russian Federation or the legislation of other states". In practice this requirement of the Law means that any information on the activities of the company can only be provided to the parties interested - be them in Russia or abroad - only by a decision of a Russian court. It has never happened through all years of the Centre's existence.

Nowadays a lot of the world countries have adopted series of the anti-offshore regulations and their fiscal bodies have established strict control over the movement of funds through the accounts of companies, registered in a lot of other off-shore destinations. But our Centre is not included into any of the "black lists", that's why companies registered with us enjoy abroad maximum possible preference. What's even more important, due to the fact, that our Centre is relatively young and not very widely known yet, our companies are often not perceived from outside as an off-shore company, which ensures greater prestige and respectability to their owners.

In any case, an IBC has the full right to any benefits, envisaged by the agreements on the prevention of the double taxation, which Russia has concluded with over 60 countries of the world, including Austria, Belgium, Great Britain, Germany, Denmark, India, Spain, Italy, Canada, Cyprus, Malaysia, Netherlands, Norway, U.S.A., Finland, France, Switzerland, Japan. The details on these benefits differ from an agreement to an agreement. Besides, being a Russian company your IBC can enjoy all benefits, foreseen for such companies in all treaties and agreements between Russia and the countries, where it ever would be active.

All the documents of the company and of the state registration bodies are done in Russian, which allows to use them within CIS without translation. When extra copies are needed for CIS countries and Baltic states a notary certification is enough. For other countries we can do the Apostille for you and they will be automatically recognized in more than 50 countries - signatories of The 1961 Hague Convention, including Austria, Belgium, Great Britain, Germany, Greece, Israel, Spain, Italy, Netherlands, U.S.A., Turkey, Finland, Switzerland, Japan.