Moscow Arbitration Court confirms the inconsistency and defamatory nature of numerous statements made over the past few months by the Federal Customs Service of the Russian Federation (FCS RF), clearing Russian TIR Guaranteeing Association ASMAP from alleged old TIR debts.

Moscow – The Arbitration Court of the Russian Federation passed a decision last week clearly stating that on all four specific counts, all allegations used by the the Federal Customs Service of Russia (FCS RF) and its Chairman, Andrei Belyaninov, to justify TIR restrictions on Russian territory, in particular concerning alleged old TIR debts of the TIR Guaranteeing Association, the Association of International Road Transport Carriers (ASMAP), are inconsistent with reality and defamatory towards its business reputation (case number A40-134939/2013).

The Arbitration Court of Moscow specifically judged the following statements repeatedly made by Andrei Belyaninov since July 2013 as “inconsistent with reality and defamatory”:

• ASMAP breached its commitments regarding payment of taxes and duties.
• The breaches of its commitments by ASMAP continue to cause damage to the Federal budget.
• ASMAP debt amounts to 41% of the total debt towards Customs.
• ASMAP debt exceeds 20 billion Rubles.
• ASMAP does not fulfill its obligations to transfer money to the budget”.

The Arbitration Court of Moscow has also requested that FCS RF and its Chairman Mr Andrei Belyaninov personally, retract these statements in the media, on the FCS RF website, as well as in letters to be addressed by the FCS RF directly to the Presidential Administration.

Finally, the Arbitration Court of Moscow decided to recover from the FCS RF the payment of court fees linked to the procedure.

Commenting on the Arbitration Court’s decision, IRU Secretary General, Umberto de Pretto, said, “As we all know the real facts, which were already provided on many occasions including to the United Nations, and as we know how efficiently the TIR System functions, in particular in Russia, it is not a surprise that the Moscow Arbitration Court fully and unequivocally recognised as false and defamatory all the allegations from the FCS RF - which were used since July 2013 as the main publicly announced motivation to justify the current illegal restrictions on the TIR Convention in Russia.” Mr de Pretto stressed that “This ruling proves that the FCS justifications for their illegal attack on the TIR System was not only defamatory, but completely fabricated and artificial. We thus expect the prompt restoration of ASMAP’s business reputation through the requested retractions by FCS RF’s Chairman, as well as the full restoration of the TIR System in Russia.”

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