Russia’s Federal Tax Service (FTS) has demanded that dozens of road construction companies pay an additional 9.5 billion rubles ($120.7 million) in back taxes, the pro-Kremlin daily Izvestia reported Wednesday, citing arbitration court rulings from 2024-2025.
The claims target both mid-sized and major contractors involved in building key highways, including the M-12, M-4 Don and R-22 Caspian motorways as well as federal roads in St. Petersburg, expanded Moscow and the Moscow region.
Among the companies cited, Dorleader was ordered to pay more than 776 million rubles ($9.9 million) in additional charges, including 248 million rubles ($3.15 million) in fines and penalties.
Avtodor-Tambov faces claims exceeding 584 million rubles ($7.4 million), while TsentrDorStroy (TsDS) was charged more than 106 million rubles ($1.35 million).
Court rulings show that the companies used fictitious documentation and fragmented chains of contractors to siphon off funds and reduce their tax liabilities, Alexei Kozhevnikov, head of risk advisory firm Kontrol Riskov, told Izvestia.
While firms have attempted to challenge the decisions, the FTS has prevailed in about 95% of cases, Kozhevnikov said.
He added that around 30% of construction companies hit with additional tax assessments have already filed for bankruptcy, while another 30% could follow in 2026.
Company bank accounts are often frozen during tax disputes, leaving firms without the cash needed to continue operations, Kozhevnikov said.
Replacing these contractors quickly is difficult, raising the risk that some infrastructure projects could be left without builders, warned Alexei Amelekhin, president of the Road Association of Operating Organizations.
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