Mr. Sergei Simenov

Defense attorney Konstantin Rivkin began today's proceedings by filing a motion to allow Sergei Simenov, an expert in the principles and evasion of taxation, to testify before the court.
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Despite Prosecutor Dmitry Shokhin's objection, Judge Irina Kolesnikova approved the motion and Mr. Simenov was invited into the courtroom to present testimony.
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Sergei Simenov provided a detailed explanation of his educational and professional qualifications in answering Judge Kolesnikova's questions.He currently works as an instructor at the Learning Center of the Tax Ministry's Law Academy and teaches the course entitled "Tax Law."He also teaches a specialized course called "Violations of Tax Law."Previously, Mr. Simenov taught similar courses at the Academy of Budget and Finance, which falls under the Ministry of Finance, and at Moscow State University.He has also been a practising lawyer since January, 1994 and is currently associated with the Moscow law firm Yakovlev & Partners.
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The justification given for rejecting these questions was that the essence of the questions being asked should be left up to courts to interpret and not to experts like Mr. Simenov.An alternative justification was based on the fact that Mr. Simenov was not an expert in the discipline questioned by the lawyers.

The one question that the witness was allowed to answer related to the existence of any normative acts that establish the right for individuals and legal entities to pay taxes using non-cash forms of payment.Mr. Simenov answered in the affirmative and listed a number of laws that had been enacted that relate to this issue.
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In his analysis, Mr. Simenov discusses the government's official position with respect to the regulation of the payment of taxes and tax reviews.
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In part, Mr. Simenov confirmed the unquestionable legality of paying taxes in a non-cash form to the revenues of municipalities and other administrative bodies.He also noted that the conclusions issued by tax police regarding the violation of terms of tax exemptions offered to Business Oil during the period 1998-1999 by the administration of the city of Lesnoy do not correspond with the circumstances in question and existing legislation.In conclusion, Mr. Simenov explained that the facts in this case all point to the absence of evidence that might incriminate the defendants of violations of the law committed by either legal entities or private individuals.