Company Announcement


JSC "Riga shipyard" and JSC "Tosmares shipyard" are internationally-known
enterprises which deal with ship construction and repair.  JSC "Riga shipyard"
as one of the largest state social insurance contributors and income tax payers
in Latvian Republic. On many occasions State Revenue Service (SRS) has awarded
JSC "Riga shipyard" as the country's largest taxpayer.  JSC ”Tosmares shipyard
" is considered as one of the largest taxpayers in the region of Kurzeme. 
 	Every year both enterprises make payments to the state budget in amount of
several million lats. Last year which was regarded as a crisis year, both
enterprises paid to the state budget almost 3.0 million lats as the income tax
and state social security payments.  This amount does not include all other
payments to the state budget made by the enterprises. Therefore, any
speculation about probable tax avoidance by JSC "Riga shipyard" or AS "Tosmares
yard" are ungrounded.  None of these enterprises have actual tax debts to the
state budget. Furthermore, State Revenue Service Tax administration department
regulary makes verifications, and  significant infringements have not been
defined. 
 We are much surprised about public announcements that JSC "Riga shipyard"  and
JSC "Tosmares shipyard" used services of dirty-money laundering  grouping. We
do not have any information on employees or officials of JSC "Riga shipyard"
and JSC "Tosmares shipyard" being involved or connected to any criminal
grouping.  This is a violation of the rights guaranteed in Article 92 of
Satversme, Latvia's Constitution, saying that any person is to be considered
innocent unless proved guilty by court decision in force. 
We know that State Revenue Service Financial Police Department for a longer
period of time have been checking deals of JSC "Riga shipyard" and JSC
"Tosmares shipyard" with regard to actual execution of ship-repair works made
on particular vessels, and theit attention was emphasized to a one of   more
than a hundred of our  subcontructors. 
We have submitted to SRS Financial Police officers all the documentation on
execution of ship repair works, we have informed them which employees and
subcontractors had participated in a particular ship repair works as well as we
have submitted all the documents confirming that ship repair works were
completed and accepted. Therefore, we are even more surprised about the mass
media's statement that the JSC "Riga shipyard" and JSC "Tosmares shipyard"
would have acted in bad faith against the state. 
 Considering that a person violating the law is subjected to statutory penalty,
however, it is incomprehensible to us why if any of business partners including
subcontractors of JSC "Riga shipyard" or JSC "Tosmares shipyard” do not fulfill
legislative requirements, mass media are publishing an announcement on probable
offenses of JSC "Riga shipyard" and JSC "Tosmares yard”, however, a name of the
subcontractor is omitted.  Certainly, that such statements of State Revenue
Service Financial Police officials to mass media are causing a significant
injury to our business not only in Latvia, but also internationally, and are
putting unreasonable "shadow of suspicion" on more than 1,000 people employed
in the enterprises.
GlobeNewswire