Speaking to a press conference Monday, Gref called the measure useful, but cautioned against overestimating its importance and relying on it to solve the problem. He said improvement of the investment climate was the key to encouraging capital back into Russia.
Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin voiced the proposal at President Vladimir Putin's meeting with cabinet members earlier Monday. He suggested that a tax amnesty be given to private individuals from January 1 to July 1, 2006. During that time, individual depositors will be able to transfer their money from foreign bank accounts to domestic ones. They will be offered a simpler transferal scheme and will face no sanctions from Russian tax agencies, but will have to pay a 13% income tax on the sum being transferred.
The Finance Ministry is expected to submit a related bill to the cabinet soon.
